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Le Journal de Physique Colloques

PHOTON GATED HOLEBURNING BY 2-STEP PHOTOIONIZATION

Albrecht Winnacker, Robert M. Shelby, R. M. Macfarlane

Published Oct 1, 1985• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the observation of photon-gated spectral holeburning in which persistent holes are burned in an inhomogeneoulsy broadened absorption line only in the presence of a second gating light source. The measurements were made in BaClF : Sm2+ and involve 2-step photoionization of Sm2+. A remarkable and novel feature of this System is that holes can be recovered after temperature cycling to 300 K for several days.

DOI
10.1051/jphyscol:1985797

Related papers

Photon-gated hole burning: a new mechanism using two-step photoionization

Albrecht Winnacker, Robert M. Shelby, R. M. Macfarlane

We have observed photon-gated spectral hole burning, i.e., hole burning that occurs only in the presence of an additional gating-light source. Gating enhancement factors of 10(4) were observed. In BaClF:Sm(2+) this involves two step photoionization of Sm(2+) and leads to persistent holes in the (4)F(0) --> (5)D(0) (687.9-nm) and (7)F(0) --> (5)D(1) (629.7-nm) absorption lines. The hole widths of 25 MHz at 2 K are much narrower than the inhomogeneous broadening of 16 GHz. The action spectrum of the gating shows a threshold behavior around 2.5 eV. Erasing studies show that Sm(3)+ acts as a trap for the released electrons. A remarkable and novel feature is that the holes can be recovered after temperature cycling to 300 K.

Optics Letters•Jul 1, 1985•234 citations

PHOTON GATED HOLE BURNING IN THE7F0?5D2ABSORPTION OF BaCIF : Sm2+

J. C. Vial, R. M. Macfarlane

Spectral hole burning in solids is a selective bleaching of a small portion of an inhomogeneously broadened optical transition by a laser. In the photon gated holeburning process spectral holes are burned in two steps. The first is provided by a narrow band laser resonant with the inhomogeneously broadened transition and the second (gating) can be initiated by a broad band light source. Photon gated spectral hole burning was reported recently in 7F0→5D0 and 7F0→5D1 absorption lines of Sm2+ in BaClF(1). In this poster we report on the spectral holeburning behaviour of 1F0→5D2 transition. We found that even in absence of additional light source for gating, permanent holes can be burned. This self gating behaviour is consistent with the observation that the optimum frequency following 5D0 excitation is ≈ 22 000cm-1 so that two photons of energy 5D2 - 7F0 are sufficient to produce photoionisation. We have analysed the light intensity dependance of hole area and a simple model indicate that the electron transfer following the photoionisation is strongly dependant on the ion - electron trap distance.

Le Journal de Physique Colloques•Dec 1, 1987•1 citation

Power-gated spectral holeburning in MgS:Eu2+, Eu3+: A case for high-density persistent spectral holeburning

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We present the case of photoionization-induced holeburning in rare-earth-doped II–VI compounds for high-density persistent holeburning. In this case, the photoproduct of holeburning is distributed across the entire zero-phonon line. This maximizes the total number of possible spectral holes that can be burned into an inhomogeneous line as well as produces holes that are photoerasable. Experimental data on photon-gated holeburning in MgS:Eu2+, Eu3+ are presented. With the proper choice of the host electronic band structure, the optically active rare-earth ion and its electronic transitions involved in the holeburning process, to the best of our knowledge we have observed the highest number of photon-gated holes ever burned in a single electronic transition. The features of these holes are that they suffer no detectable erasure after several thousands of read cycles, they survive thermal cycling to ∼150 K, and they are completely photoerasable. A special case of photon-gated holeburning, power-gated holeburning, was employed to demonstrate that, in such systems, a single laser can be used for burning, reading, and erasing of the spectral holes.

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TWO-COLOR, PHOTON-GATED SPECTRAL HOLE-BURNING

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Persistent spectral hole-burning (PHB) has been proposed as the essential element of a frequency domain optical storage system1 in which the frequency at which a hole is burned in an inhomogeneously broadened absorption line at low temperatures serves as an additional dimension for the storage of digital information. Essentially all of the mechanisms studied until recently have been single-photon mechanisms, i.e., the photoionduced change leading to hole-burning (writing) for a given center occurs with a certain fixed probability after the absorption of one photon. Such linear, monophotonic processes suffer from the drawback that the act of detecting holes (reading) can also produce changes in the absorption line. Recent modeling studies of the generalized single-photon process2 have shown that thousands to tens of thousands of reads can be obtained from single-photon mechanisms only when the material possesses high quantum efficiency and low absorption cross section. These restrictive requirements do not apply for photon-gated hole-burning mechanisms, i.e., those mechanisms for which hole-burning occurs only in the presence of an additional “gating” light source, because for these mechanisms, reading is performed in the absence of the gating light and is therefore nondestructive.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 1985•0 citations

High-density photon-gated hole burning in sulfides

Levent Biyikli, Michael G. Solonenko, S. M. Ahmedyan +1 more

We present the case of photoionization-induced persistent spectral holeburning in rare earth doped II-VI compounds for high density memory storage. Experimental data on photon-gated holeburning has been presented for different sulfide hosts (MgS, CaS: RE2+ and RE3+). With the proper choice of the host electronic band structure, the optically active rare earth ion and its electronic transitions involved in the holeburning process, we have observed the highest number of persistent holes ever burned in a single electronic transition. Efficient photon-gated holeburning in the 4f7 (8S7/2) - 4f65d1 transition of Eu2+ is a result of photoionization of Eu2+ to Eu3+. These holes have a width of less than 5 GHz, have no detectable erasing effects after thousands of reading cycles, survive thermal cycling up to the room temperature and have infinite lifetime at low temperature (2 K). Although self- gated holeburning is observed with reading laser at higher powers, the photon budget for reading these holes is so small that thousands of reading cycles can be performed without significantly affecting the optical signal. We discuss the unique features of these systems that make them the most promising candidates to date for the holeburning based optical memories.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Nov 5, 1998•1 citation

THE EFFECT OF ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS ON THE 7F0↔5D0 TRANSITION OF BaClF : Sm2+ USING PHOTON-GATED HOLEBURNING

R. M. Macfarlane, Robert M. Shelby, Albrecht Winnacker

A new mechanism of spectral holeburning by 2-step photoionization ("photon-gated" holeburning) has recently been demonstrated. In BaClF : Sm2+, this leads to permanent spectral holes 25 MHz wide which we have used to measure small linear Stark and nonlinear Zeeman coefficients of the 7F0↔5D0 transition of Sm2+. The Zeeman coefficients agree within 4% with those calculated assuming free ion 4f6 wave functions for 7F0 and 5D0.

Le Journal de Physique Colloques•Oct 1, 1985•0 citations
We report the observation of photon-gated spectral holeburning in which persistent holes are burned in an inhomogeneoulsy broadened absorption line only in the presence of a second gating light source. The measurements were made in BaClF : Sm2+ and involve 2-step photoionization of Sm2+. A remarkable and novel feature of this System is that holes can be recovered after temperature cycling to 300 K for several days.
We have observed photon-gated spectral hole burning, i.e., hole burning that occurs only in the presence of an additional gating-light source. Gating enhancement factors of 10(4) were observed. In BaClF:Sm(2+) this involves two step photoionization of Sm(2+) and leads to persistent holes in the (4)F(0) --> (5)D(0) (687.9-nm) and (7)F(0) --> (5)D(1) (629.7-nm) absorption lines. The hole widths of 25 MHz at 2 K are much narrower than the inhomogeneous broadening of 16 GHz. The action spectrum of the gating shows a threshold behavior around 2.5 eV. Erasing studies show that Sm(3)+ acts as a trap for the released electrons. A remarkable and novel feature is that the holes can be recovered after temperature cycling to 300 K.
Spectral hole burning in solids is a selective bleaching of a small portion of an inhomogeneously broadened optical transition by a laser. In the photon gated holeburning process spectral holes are burned in two steps. The first is provided by a narrow band laser resonant with the inhomogeneously broadened transition and the second (gating) can be initiated by a broad band light source. Photon gated spectral hole burning was reported recently in 7F0→5D0 and 7F0→5D1 absorption lines of Sm2+ in BaClF(1). In this poster we report on the spectral holeburning behaviour of 1F0→5D2 transition. We found that even in absence of additional light source for gating, permanent holes can be burned. This self gating behaviour is consistent with the observation that the optimum frequency following 5D0 excitation is ≈ 22 000cm-1 so that two photons of energy 5D2 - 7F0 are sufficient to produce photoionisation. We have analysed the light intensity dependance of hole area and a simple model indicate that the electron transfer following the photoionisation is strongly dependant on the ion - electron trap distance.
We present the case of photoionization-induced holeburning in rare-earth-doped II–VI compounds for high-density persistent holeburning. In this case, the photoproduct of holeburning is distributed across the entire zero-phonon line. This maximizes the total number of possible spectral holes that can be burned into an inhomogeneous line as well as produces holes that are photoerasable. Experimental data on photon-gated holeburning in MgS:Eu2+, Eu3+ are presented. With the proper choice of the host electronic band structure, the optically active rare-earth ion and its electronic transitions involved in the holeburning process, to the best of our knowledge we have observed the highest number of photon-gated holes ever burned in a single electronic transition. The features of these holes are that they suffer no detectable erasure after several thousands of read cycles, they survive thermal cycling to ∼150 K, and they are completely photoerasable. A special case of photon-gated holeburning, power-gated holeburning, was employed to demonstrate that, in such systems, a single laser can be used for burning, reading, and erasing of the spectral holes.
Persistent spectral hole-burning (PHB) has been proposed as the essential element of a frequency domain optical storage system1 in which the frequency at which a hole is burned in an inhomogeneously broadened absorption line at low temperatures serves as an additional dimension for the storage of digital information. Essentially all of the mechanisms studied until recently have been single-photon mechanisms, i.e., the photoionduced change leading to hole-burning (writing) for a given center occurs with a certain fixed probability after the absorption of one photon. Such linear, monophotonic processes suffer from the drawback that the act of detecting holes (reading) can also produce changes in the absorption line. Recent modeling studies of the generalized single-photon process2 have shown that thousands to tens of thousands of reads can be obtained from single-photon mechanisms only when the material possesses high quantum efficiency and low absorption cross section. These restrictive requirements do not apply for photon-gated hole-burning mechanisms, i.e., those mechanisms for which hole-burning occurs only in the presence of an additional “gating” light source, because for these mechanisms, reading is performed in the absence of the gating light and is therefore nondestructive.
We present the case of photoionization-induced persistent spectral holeburning in rare earth doped II-VI compounds for high density memory storage. Experimental data on photon-gated holeburning has been presented for different sulfide hosts (MgS, CaS: RE2+ and RE3+). With the proper choice of the host electronic band structure, the optically active rare earth ion and its electronic transitions involved in the holeburning process, we have observed the highest number of persistent holes ever burned in a single electronic transition. Efficient photon-gated holeburning in the 4f7 (8S7/2) - 4f65d1 transition of Eu2+ is a result of photoionization of Eu2+ to Eu3+. These holes have a width of less than 5 GHz, have no detectable erasing effects after thousands of reading cycles, survive thermal cycling up to the room temperature and have infinite lifetime at low temperature (2 K). Although self- gated holeburning is observed with reading laser at higher powers, the photon budget for reading these holes is so small that thousands of reading cycles can be performed without significantly affecting the optical signal. We discuss the unique features of these systems that make them the most promising candidates to date for the holeburning based optical memories.