Richard G. Zech, Ph.D., Advent Group, Consultant
and Expert Witness
A
Bright Future for Optical Storage
Abstract
Optical storage has
been evolving for more than 40 years. Originally considered a computer storage
alternative to magnetic disk and tape, optical storage has become instead a
major player in consumer electronics. Since 1982 and 1996, respectively,
red-laser CD optical and DVD optical storage have been a mainstay of the
consumer electronics industry, whether for audio-video (A/V), gaming, or
digital image or personal storage applications. In 2004 blue-laser optical
storage products made their first appearance. "Blue-disc"
applications include HD movie distribution, HDTV recording, and professional
data storage. Optical storage industry strategists now face four primary
challenges: (a) the surprising longevity of demand for low-margin CD and DVD
products; (b) the slower than expected roll-out of HD (movie and TV) products
that require blue-disc storage products; (c) the practical limitations of laser
diode wavelengths and objective numerical apertures (does this portend the end
of technology life?); and (d) the challenge of competing storage technologies
(for example, single-disk magnetic and semiconductor memory card products and
in the future MEMS- and nanotech-based storage). All types of consumer-oriented
storage must also face the likely challenge of universal and true wideband
communications services (100 Mbps and higher) for all types of A/V file
downloading and interactive online services. My presentation will briefly
address these issue and make an initial attempt to sort out the future 5 years
and 15 years out.
Biography
Dr. Zech has nearly 40 years of
photonics and computer storage experience.
His academic focus was on modern optics, electromagnetic theory,
communications theory, advanced mathematics, and the chemistry/physics of
optical materials. Starting in 1965 at
the University of Michigan, he began a lifetime of research and development in
the highly specialized area of optical data storage, processing/computing and
communications. He studied under E. N.
Leith, A. Kozma, A. Vander Lugt, and Dennis Gabor (1971 Nobel laureate in
physics), leading modern optics pioneers.
He is a well-known expert in the field of optical data storage,
holography, recording media, and optical disc replication processes and
technology. His main interests are
lasers, materials physics, chemistry and processes, control and positioning of light beams, and photonic
components (including MEMS and MOEMS) and their integration into fully
functional information processing system.
Much of Dr. Zech’s early work
(1965-1979) was for the US Department of Defense and various intelligence
agencies. The primary goal of this work
was to use photonics technology for the rapid acquisition, processing, storage
and communication of data vital to national defense. From 1979 to the present, Dr. Zech has focused on
high-performance photonic systems, particularly for optical data storage and
processing. In 1989 he recognized the
many analogies between the requirements for optical data storage and optical
communications, and studied the adaptation and integration of photonic
components for the design of very high-performance optical data storage systems
until 2001. Starting in 1995, Dr. Zech
shifted his main research focus to (1) consumer electronics applications of
photonics (CD, DVD, digital cameras, flat panel displays, LEDs and HDTV); (2)
replication of CD and DVD media (technology, materials, processes and systems);
and (3) the impact of MEMS/Nanotech on data storage, processing and
communication design and performance.
Dr. Zech also has significant
engineering, product and business development, and sales & marketing
management experience, which he has used as a consultant for the past 16
years. Since 1990 he has also worked as
an expert witness in numerous patent infringement litigations (and a few
involving breach of contract and theft of trade secrets) and evaluated over 200
patents for technical and economic merit.