Ferroelectric liquid-crystal-based binary optical memory employing feedback

A two-dimensional bit-oriented refreshing optical memory that is loosely based on the design of an electronic flip-flop is presented. The test system consisted of two amorphous-silicon liquid-crystal optically addressed spatial light modulators placed into an inverting configuration to provide a stable refreshable memory element. A description of the optically addressed spatial light modulator device and its operation is presented. The optical design of the memory with the optically addressed spatial light modulator is described, and timing and component requirements are delineated. The results and analysis of testing for a one-pixel memory system are reported. The expected requirements and limitations of a multipixel system are discussed.