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The European Physical Journal Applied Physics

Femtosecond pulse shaping based on spectral hole burning

T. Chanelière, Sébastien Fraigne, Jean‐Pierre Galaup, M. Joffre, J.-L. Le Gouët, J.-P. Likforman, D. Ricard

Published Nov 15, 2002• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In a series of experiments we explore various aspects of femtosecond pulse shaping by coherent filters engraved in a persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) material. We have in mind the coherent control of quantum systems, with high resolution and large number of addressable spectral points. We examine the phase correction efficiency of this approach, relying on Fourier transform spectral interferometry techniques to characterize the coherent filter. Two different PSHB materials are considered, with two different setups, involving different values of repetition rate, fluence, wavelength, spectral width and pulse duration.

DOI
10.1051/epjap:2002093

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Persistent spectral hole-burning materials as pulse shapers: phase analysis of a chirped coherent filter

T. Chanelière, J.-L. Le Gouët, D. Ricard

We apply Fourier-transform spectral interferometry to complete phase and intensity characterization of a chirped filter engraved in a persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) material. The conjugated transfer function of a grating pair compressor is stored in a PSHB material as an accumulated spectral hologram that behaves as a pulse stretcher. By directing the diffracted pulse back through the compressor, we verified that the PSHB stretcher’s transfer function is indeed conjugated to that of the grating pair compressor. We have extended the spectral phase analysis to regions where the engraved structure is much narrower than the spectrometer’s resolution.

Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Mar 1, 2003•2 citations

Aspects of hole burning and spectro-temporal holography in molecular doped solids (Review)

Jean‐Pierre Galaup

The persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) phenomenon has been known since 1974. It is still an important research area for the study of the intimacy of complex molecular systems in the solid state, revealing high-resolution spectra, photophysics, photochemistry, and dynamics of molecular doped amorphous media, organic as well as inorganic. From another point of view, PSHB allows the engraving of any spectral structures in the inhomogeneous absorption band profile of molecular doped amorphous hosts or ion doped crystals cooled down to liquid helium temperatures. Therefore, a PSHB material is programmable in the spectral domain and consequently it can be transformed in an optical processor capable of achieving user-defined optical functions. Some aspects of both fields are illustrated in the present paper. Concerning the search for efficient PSHB materials, the hole-burning performances and the photophysics of polymer and xerogel based systems are compared. The problem of high-temperature persistent spectral hole-burning materials and the search for new frequency selective photosensitive systems for fast optical pulse processing at 800nm are considered. Regarding the points treated, inorganic hosts based on silicate xerogels or porous glasses have shown the best results. Moreover, by combining inorganic and organic capabilities or by grafting organic species to the host, hybrid xerogels have not yet revealed all possibilities. Also, the interest of two-photon materials for engraving spectral features with near-infrared or infrared light is developed. As an introduction to possible applications of PSHB material, the basics of spectro-temporal holography are remembered and a demonstrative experiment using a naphthalocyanine-doped polymer film is described, proving that the temporal aberration free recompression of ultrashort light pulses is feasible, therefore opening a way for applications in ultrashort light pulse shaping. Aspects for a comparison between cw hole-burning and femtosecond spectro-temporal experiments are considered, and prospects for coherent control of light fields or photochemical processes are also evoked.

Low Temperature Physics•Nov 1, 2006•1 citation

Amplitude and phase measurements of femtosecond pulses shaped using spectral hole burning in free-base naphthalocyanine-doped films

Sébastien Fraigne, Jean‐Pierre Galaup, J.-L. Le Gouët +4 more

Spatio-temporal holography using persistent spectral hole-burning in dye molecules embedded in plastic films is promising for applications such as femtosecond pulse shaping, data storage or phase conjugation. In addition to the common 2 spatial dimensions of classical holograms, each point in the sample plane can be used to store spectral informations such as the shape of a femtosecond pulse. On each point of the sample, spectral interferences between a reference pulse and an object pulse (for example chirped) are recorded via spectral hole-burning in the absorption band of the dye molecule. As early as 1983, photon echo and time-reversal experiments using persistent spectral hole-burning were performed in porphyrazine styrol solutions at 630 nm [1]. Then several developments, like the reconstruction of the polarization state of object pulses [2], time and space holography [3,4], image holograms using a single pair of femtosecond pulses [5] were demonstrated in different photosensitive media.

International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena•Jan 1, 2002•2 citations

Amplitude and phase measurements of femtosecond pulses shaped by use of spectral hole burning in free-base naphthalocyanine-doped films

Sébastien Fraigne, Jean‐Pierre Galaup, Jean-Louis Le Gouët +4 more

We performed pulse-shaping and time-reversal experiments using spectral holography based on persistent spectral hole burning in free-base naphthalocyanine-doped films. We demonstrate that we can control the pulses diffracted from the hologram by shaping and then by characterizing these pulses in both amplitude and phase. A dephasing time of 29 ps (i.e., a homogeneous linewidth of 69 GHz) was measured from a photon-echo experiment in the chemically accumulated regime.

Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Jul 1, 2003•13 citations

Time Domain Holography

Alexander Rebane

It is acknowledged that inhomogeneous absorption bands consisting of narrow homogeneous zero-phonon lines (ZPL) can be used for the purpose of optical data storage in the frequency dimension /1/. Persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) /2,3/ has made it feasible to preserve the recorded frequency domain information for a practically unlimited period of time. Via PSHB the inhomogeneous distribution function of the resonance frequencies of the impurity zero-phonon lines can be altered in an almost arbitrary fashion. This, in turn, makes it possible to manipulate the absorption coefficient and correlated to it index of refraction of the optical storage media. On this basis it has been proposed to use PSHB for the shaping of laser pulses via Fourier synthesis /4/. Holographic storage of time domain optical signals in PSHB media was proposed by Mossberg /5/. In the first experiments on the PSHB time domain holography the reproduction of various temporal shapes of picosecond pulses was demonstrated in dye doped polymers cooled to liquid helium temperature /6/. Earlier Zuikov et al. observed correlation between the temporal shapes of nanosecond excitation laser pulses and photon echo signals /7/. Since that time a variety of experiments on time domain holography in different resonant media have been reported (see /8/ and references therein).

Spectral Hole-Burning and Related Spectroscopies: Science and Applications•Jan 1, 1992•0 citations

Persistent Spectral Hole Burning: Time- and Space-Domain Holography

Karl K. Rebane, Alexander Rebane

Persistent spectral hole burning (PHSB) provides a unique possibility of controlling, by means of illumination with high spectral resolution, optical properties, the coefficient of absorption and the index of refraction in the impurity absorption band of doped solid materials. New versions of holography are the most successful application of PSHB data storage and processing. It utilizes both distributed storage and parallel processing and demonstrates the advantages and potentials of PSHB in this field. An interesting property of time and space-domain holograms occurs in connection with external electric fields: the pseudo-Stark splitting of narrow spectral holes due to the linear Stark effect in an external electric field manifests itself as an additional modulation of holographically stored signals in the time domain. The idea of PSHB time- and space-domain holography is simple. When a PSHB sample is illuminated by a pulse of light, the intensity (more precisely, the doses of illumination), in dependence of the frequency, is stored in the hole profile.

CRC Press eBooks•Jul 29, 2020•1 citation
In a series of experiments we explore various aspects of femtosecond pulse shaping by coherent filters engraved in a persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) material. We have in mind the coherent control of quantum systems, with high resolution and large number of addressable spectral points. We examine the phase correction efficiency of this approach, relying on Fourier transform spectral interferometry techniques to characterize the coherent filter. Two different PSHB materials are considered, with two different setups, involving different values of repetition rate, fluence, wavelength, spectral width and pulse duration.
We apply Fourier-transform spectral interferometry to complete phase and intensity characterization of a chirped filter engraved in a persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) material. The conjugated transfer function of a grating pair compressor is stored in a PSHB material as an accumulated spectral hologram that behaves as a pulse stretcher. By directing the diffracted pulse back through the compressor, we verified that the PSHB stretcher’s transfer function is indeed conjugated to that of the grating pair compressor. We have extended the spectral phase analysis to regions where the engraved structure is much narrower than the spectrometer’s resolution.
The persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) phenomenon has been known since 1974. It is still an important research area for the study of the intimacy of complex molecular systems in the solid state, revealing high-resolution spectra, photophysics, photochemistry, and dynamics of molecular doped amorphous media, organic as well as inorganic. From another point of view, PSHB allows the engraving of any spectral structures in the inhomogeneous absorption band profile of molecular doped amorphous hosts or ion doped crystals cooled down to liquid helium temperatures. Therefore, a PSHB material is programmable in the spectral domain and consequently it can be transformed in an optical processor capable of achieving user-defined optical functions. Some aspects of both fields are illustrated in the present paper. Concerning the search for efficient PSHB materials, the hole-burning performances and the photophysics of polymer and xerogel based systems are compared. The problem of high-temperature persistent spectral hole-burning materials and the search for new frequency selective photosensitive systems for fast optical pulse processing at 800nm are considered. Regarding the points treated, inorganic hosts based on silicate xerogels or porous glasses have shown the best results. Moreover, by combining inorganic and organic capabilities or by grafting organic species to the host, hybrid xerogels have not yet revealed all possibilities. Also, the interest of two-photon materials for engraving spectral features with near-infrared or infrared light is developed. As an introduction to possible applications of PSHB material, the basics of spectro-temporal holography are remembered and a demonstrative experiment using a naphthalocyanine-doped polymer film is described, proving that the temporal aberration free recompression of ultrashort light pulses is feasible, therefore opening a way for applications in ultrashort light pulse shaping. Aspects for a comparison between cw hole-burning and femtosecond spectro-temporal experiments are considered, and prospects for coherent control of light fields or photochemical processes are also evoked.
Spatio-temporal holography using persistent spectral hole-burning in dye molecules embedded in plastic films is promising for applications such as femtosecond pulse shaping, data storage or phase conjugation. In addition to the common 2 spatial dimensions of classical holograms, each point in the sample plane can be used to store spectral informations such as the shape of a femtosecond pulse. On each point of the sample, spectral interferences between a reference pulse and an object pulse (for example chirped) are recorded via spectral hole-burning in the absorption band of the dye molecule. As early as 1983, photon echo and time-reversal experiments using persistent spectral hole-burning were performed in porphyrazine styrol solutions at 630 nm [1]. Then several developments, like the reconstruction of the polarization state of object pulses [2], time and space holography [3,4], image holograms using a single pair of femtosecond pulses [5] were demonstrated in different photosensitive media.
It is acknowledged that inhomogeneous absorption bands consisting of narrow homogeneous zero-phonon lines (ZPL) can be used for the purpose of optical data storage in the frequency dimension /1/. Persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) /2,3/ has made it feasible to preserve the recorded frequency domain information for a practically unlimited period of time. Via PSHB the inhomogeneous distribution function of the resonance frequencies of the impurity zero-phonon lines can be altered in an almost arbitrary fashion. This, in turn, makes it possible to manipulate the absorption coefficient and correlated to it index of refraction of the optical storage media. On this basis it has been proposed to use PSHB for the shaping of laser pulses via Fourier synthesis /4/. Holographic storage of time domain optical signals in PSHB media was proposed by Mossberg /5/. In the first experiments on the PSHB time domain holography the reproduction of various temporal shapes of picosecond pulses was demonstrated in dye doped polymers cooled to liquid helium temperature /6/. Earlier Zuikov et al. observed correlation between the temporal shapes of nanosecond excitation laser pulses and photon echo signals /7/. Since that time a variety of experiments on time domain holography in different resonant media have been reported (see /8/ and references therein).
Persistent spectral hole burning (PHSB) provides a unique possibility of controlling, by means of illumination with high spectral resolution, optical properties, the coefficient of absorption and the index of refraction in the impurity absorption band of doped solid materials. New versions of holography are the most successful application of PSHB data storage and processing. It utilizes both distributed storage and parallel processing and demonstrates the advantages and potentials of PSHB in this field. An interesting property of time and space-domain holograms occurs in connection with external electric fields: the pseudo-Stark splitting of narrow spectral holes due to the linear Stark effect in an external electric field manifests itself as an additional modulation of holographically stored signals in the time domain. The idea of PSHB time- and space-domain holography is simple. When a PSHB sample is illuminated by a pulse of light, the intensity (more precisely, the doses of illumination), in dependence of the frequency, is stored in the hole profile.