Claims
- 1-77. Cancel
- 78. A method of erasing information stored on a data storage medium comprising the steps of:
(a) providing a luminescent data storage medium comprising Al2O3, said luminescent data storage medium having said information stored thereon; and (b) thermal annealing said luminescent data storage medium at a temperature of about 600 to 700° C. to thereby erase said information on said luminescent data storage medium.
- 79. The method of claim 78, wherein step (b) comprises annealing said data storage medium at a temperature of about 650° C.
- 80. The method of claim 78, further comprising the step of:
cooling said luminescent data storage medium to room temperature.
- 81. The method of claim 78, wherein at least part of the said luminescent data storage medium is a single crystal Al2O3 material.
- 82. The method of claim 78, wherein said luminescent data storage medium comprises:
a base material comprising Al2O3; a first dopant comprising magnesium; and a second dopant comprising carbon, wherein said luminescent data storage medium includes a plurality of at least one type of oxygen vacancy defect.
- 83. The method of claim 82, wherein said luminescent data storage medium includes color centers having 335 and 630 nm optical absorption bands and a 750 nm fluorescent emission band prior to step (b), and wherein said color centers having 335 and 630 optical absorption bands are converted by step (b) into color centers having a 435 nm optical absorption band and a fluorescent emission band at 520 nm.
- 84. The method of claim 82, wherein said Al2O3:C,Mg crystal has a green coloration and has original concentration of F22+(2Mg)-centers prior to said information being stored on said luminescent data storage medium, and wherein step (b) comprises restoring said green coloration and said original concentration of F22+(2Mg)-centers.
- 85. An apparatus for erasing information stored on a data storage medium comprising:
a luminescent data storage medium comprising Al2O3, said luminescent data storage medium having said information stored thereon; and annealing means for thermal annealing said luminescent data storage medium at a temperature of about 600 to 700° C. to thereby erase said information on said luminescent data storage medium.
- 86. The apparatus of claim 85, further comprising cooling means for cooling said thermally annealed data storage medium to room temperature.
- 87. The apparatus of claim 85, wherein at least part of the said luminescent data storage medium is a single crystal Al2O3 material
- 88. The apparatus of claim 85, wherein said luminescent data storage medium comprises:
a base material comprising Al2O3; a first dopant comprising magnesium; and a second dopant comprising carbon, wherein said luminescent data storage medium includes a plurality of at least one type of oxygen vacancy defect.
- 89. The apparatus of claim 88, wherein said luminescent data storage medium includes color centers having 335 and 630 nm optical absorption bands and a 750 nm fluorescent emission band while said information is stored on said luminescent data storage medium, and wherein said color centers having 335 and 630 optical absorption bands are converted into color centers having a 435 nm optical absorption band and a fluorescent emission band at 520 nm by annealing said luminescent data storage medium at a temperature of about 650° C.
- 90. The apparatus of claim 89, wherein said Al2O3:C,Mg crystal has a green coloration and has original concentration of F22+(2Mg)-centers prior to said information being stored on said luminescent data storage medium, and wherein said annealing means is capable of restoring said green coloration and said original concentration of F22+(2Mg)-centers.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/309,021, filed Dec. 4, 2002, entitled, “Aluminum Oxide Material for Optical Data Storage,” which claims the priority of U.S. Provisional App. No. 60/336,749, filed Dec. 4, 2001, now abandoned, and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/309,179, filed Dec. 4, 2002, entitled, “Method for Forming Aluminum Oxide Material Used in Optical Data Storage,” which claims the priority of U.S. Provisional App. No. 60/417,153, filed Oct. 10, 2002. The entire disclosures and contents of the above applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60336749 |
Dec 2001 |
US |
|
60417153 |
Oct 2002 |
US |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10419726 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Child |
10456569 |
Jun 2003 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10309021 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Child |
10419726 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Parent |
10309179 |
Dec 2002 |
US |
Child |
10419726 |
Apr 2003 |
US |