Three-dimensional data storage

The two-dimensional quantitative approach has been in existence since the early 1930s when the need to better understand the manufacturing process necessitated the desire to characterize the surface. More recently, with the advances in computing and data storage, three-dimensional quantitative analysis has gained popularity. Three-dimensional measurement is more suited for noncontact measurement techniques due to the speed of data acquisition. 

In general, the commercially used optical data storage media deposit the information on disks or cards (two-dimensional data deposition. Table 1). Data storage systems, which store data in three and more dimensions are being developed. 

Cumpston BH, Ananthavel SP, Barlow S, Dyer DL, Ehrlich JE, Erskine LL, Heikal AA, Kuebler SM, Lee IS, McCord-Maughon D, Qin J, Rockel H, Rumi M, Wu XL, Marder SR, Perry JW (1999) Two-photon polymerization initiators for three-dimensional optical data storage and microfabrication. Nature 398 51-54... 

Martin, Y.C., Danaher, E.B., May, C.S., and Weininger, D. MENTHOR, a database system for the storage and retrieval of three-dimensional molecular structures and associated data searchable by sub structural, biologic, physical, or geometric properties./. Comput.-Aided Mol. Des. 1998, 1, 15-29. 

Strickler JH, Wehh WW (1991) Three-dimensional optical data storage in refractive media by two-photon point excitation. Opt Lett 16 1780-1782... 

For several years we have been involved in a wide-ranging project to develop methods for the representation and searching of the three-dimensional (3-D) protein structures in the Brookhaven Protein Data Bank [28, 29], Our work derives from the graph-theoretic methods that are used for the storage and retrieval of information pertaining to both two-dimensional (2-D) and 3-D small molecules [1, 58]. 

Kawata, S., and Kawata, Y. Three-dimensional optical data storage using photochmmic materials. Chem. Rev. 2000, 100, 1777-1788. 

Toriumi, A., and Kawata, S. Reflection confocal microscope readout system for three-dimensional photochromic optical data storage. Opt. Lett. 23,1924, 1998. 

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