Optical spectroscopic information storage

An optical data storage system is disclosed in which information is encoded and decoded in the spectrally resolved optical properties of the storage medium. An optical storage medium scatters an incident light excitation into both elastic and inelastic light beams. The inelastically scattered light serves as an optical data storage channel, whereby the inelastic light scattering properties of the medium are modulated in accordance with the information to be encoded or decoded. The elastically scattered light is also used as a data channel as in conventional optical storage systems, as well as for control functions. By increasing the optical processing gain, relatively weak inelastic scattering channels may provide a signal:noise ratio sufficient for storage applications. Furthermore, incorporation of a plurality of independently addressable inelastic scattering channels increases the storage density of the medium.