Femtosecond data storage, processing, and search using collective excitations of a macroscopic quantum state

An ultrafast parallel data processor is described in which amplitude mode excitations of a charge density wave are used to encode data on the surface of a 1 T-TaS2 crystal. The data are written, manipulated, and read using parallel femtosecond laser pulse beams, and the operation of a database search algorithm is demonstrated on a two-element array. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.