Cornell Research Foundation Inc.

Zhongping Chen

Aaron Lewis

Hiroyuki Takei

A stable, image-retaining, optically switchable film produced from a purple membrane in a high-pH polyvinyl alcohol solution forms an optical memory for data storage. The film, when dry, can be exposed to light to convert BR molecules to their M state, which is stable, and which allows long-term image storage. The image can be erased by exposing the film to yellow light to thereby switch all the molecules to the M state, and then a reverse image can be obtained using blue light. By controlling the location and wavelength of the incident light, pixels can be selected and exposed for information storage.

Growing community of inventors

Syracuse, NY, United States of America

Zhongping Chen