Abstract
We report the optical characterisation of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) films of long intermediate-state lifetimes. The M-state lifetime is extended from 10 ms for the native BR protein to ~20 minutes for our BR films, by chemical and physical modifications of the material. Optical cache memory characteristics of thin films are studied in excite-probe experiments in which nanosecond-duration pulses are used to excite a BR film and cw monochromatic light used to monitor the transmission dynamics. The memory read-time is found to vary significantly with the probe wavelength; it is of the order of milliseconds at 633 nm and of the order of 100 µs for probe wavelengths of 600 nm and below. The memory erase-time is ~50µs. Contrast ratios and insertion losses are measured at different probe wavelengths, with a maximum contrast ratio following nanosecond excitation of ~3:1 obtained in the peak absorption region of the B-state (~570 nm), at an excitation fluence of 30 mJcm-2. The implications of these results for the application of BR films as optical cache memory devices are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 439-443 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Part 1: Regular Papers and Short Notes and Review Papers |
Volume | 36 |
Issue number | 1 B |
Publication status | Published - 1997 |
Keywords
- Bacteriorhodopsin
- Nonlinear optics
- Optical materials
- Optical memory