Photo-Response of Electrostatically Deposited Bacteriorhodopsin Monolayer Films for Protein-Based Disk Recording Beyond 10 Tbit/in 2

The absorption properties of optical protein memories, comprised of Bacteriorhodopsin (BR) monolayer films, were studied for the first time to better understand the underlying read/write processes. We demonstrate that 755 nm light provides the greatest difference between the bR and Q photostates in 2D BR films. This implicates 755 nm as an optimal wavelength for probing the state of monolayer BR. A Cary 5000 spectrometer was used to observe state changes via absorption measurements following LED irradiation of BR coated samples.