Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Rare earths vs. rare earths: spectral storage in f-d and f-f materials

Alan E. Craig

Published Feb 9, 2006• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Analysis of a spectral hole burning memory design implementing high oscillator strength absorbers is reported. While retaining excellent area bit density, potential I/O bandwidth is significantly enhanced while required optical power and energy decrease. Model parameter values that derive from materials recently fabricated and characterized by collaborators indicate excellent data storage system performance.

DOI
10.1117/12.663658

Related papers

Rare-earth-based spectral memories: material implications

Kent B. Hill, Alan E. Craig

Spectral hole burning material parameters that impact optical memory architecture and performance are investigated. Optical power budget analysis for the data storage process reveals that although narrow homogeneous linewidth can confer high data density, it does not optimally support high data rates. Trading narrow linewidth for higher oscillator strength would be desirable, if attainable. Experimental measurement of oscillator strengths, quantum yield into alternative hyperfine ground state levels, and persistence of the hyperfine level populations in Eu3+:Y2SiO5 and Pr3+:Y2SiO5 are presented and discussed. Quantum yield measurements of less than 25% indicate that spin projections are strongly preserved during excitation and relaxation processes. The hole depth consequently attainable from single π-pulse illumination requires trade-offs in memory system design.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Jun 30, 2003•0 citations

Rare-earth-doped materials with application to optical signal processing, quantum information science, and medical imaging technology

R. L. Cone, Charles W. Thiel, Yazhou Sun +2 more

Unique spectroscopic properties of isolated rare earth ions in solids offer optical linewidths rivaling those of trapped single atoms and enable a variety of recent applications. We design rare-earth-doped crystals, ceramics, and fibers with persistent or transient "spectral hole" recording properties for applications including high-bandwidth optical signal processing where light and our solids replace the high-bandwidth portion of the electronics; quantum cryptography and information science including the goal of storage and recall of single photons; and medical imaging technology for the 700-900 nm therapeutic window. Ease of optically manipulating rare-earth ions in solids enables capturing complex spectral information in 105 to 108 frequency bins. Combining spatial holography and spectral hole burning provides a capability for processing high-bandwidth RF and optical signals with sub-MHz spectral resolution and bandwidths of tens to hundreds of GHz for applications including range-Doppler radar and high bandwidth RF spectral analysis. Simply stated, one can think of these crystals as holographic recording media capable of distinguishing up to 108 different colors. Ultra-narrow spectral holes also serve as a vibration-insensitive sub-kHz frequency reference for laser frequency stabilization to a part in 1013 over tens of milliseconds. The unusual properties and applications of spectral hole burning of rare earth ions in optical materials are reviewed. Experimental results on the promising Tm3+:LiNbO3 material system are presented and discussed for medical imaging applications. Finally, a new application of these materials as dynamic optical filters for laser noise suppression is discussed along with experimental demonstrations and theoretical modeling of the process.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Feb 9, 2012•16 citations

Challenges for ultra-high density spectral storage

Zameer U. Hasan

ABSTRACT A review of the status of ultra-high density spectral storage has been presented. Keywords: Ultra-High Density Spectral Storage, Spectral Memories, Terabits Storage, Spectral Holeburning, Optical Holeburning, Multi-layer Th infilm, Power-Gated Holeburning, Optical Materials, Rare Earths 1. INTRODUCTION Spectral Storage offers the highest possible storage densities thus far. Terabits per square inch and even more have been shown to be possible, in principle. Spectral storage is unlike any other type of storage. Magnetic, holographic, multi-layer storage [1], etc., are all macroscopic scale storage in the sense that the macroscopic properties of the recording material are transformed to record a series of zeros and ones. Spectral storage is at the atomic or microscopic scale. A small number of atoms in a solid-state medium are used to store a ‘bit’ of information. This is responsible for the high storage density of spectral storage. A cubic micron of solid has ~10 18

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Feb 7, 2008•0 citations

Materials for spectral hole-burning storage

W. E. Moerner

One very exciting application of laser spectroscopy would be to use the high-resolution capabilities of today’s lasers and the phenomenon of persistent spectral hole-burning to form a frequency domain optical storage system.1 In such a system, bits of information would be stored by locally modifying (in the frequency domain) the shape of an inhomogeneously broadened absorption line of an absorber in a solid at low temperatures. Because typical homogeneous widths are 1000X (or more) narrower than typical inhomogeneous widths, as many as 1000 bits could be written in one diffraction-limited 1-μm spot In a sample, yielding the impressive storage density of 1011 bits/cm2.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 1983•1 citation

Hole-Burning Mechanisms and Crystal-Field Effects in Rare-Earth Doped Glasses

Thomas Schmidt, P. J. van der Zaag, B. C. Schokker +1 more

Rare-earth ions doped in glasses or crystals have extremely narrow homogeneous optical linewidths at low temperature and are, therefore, excellent probes for studying small spectral splittings [1]. They are further potential candidates for data storage applications.

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

High-speed optical recording with rare-earth-doped hole-burning materials

Ravinder Kachru, Xiao A. Shen

We are developing a high density, high speed optical memory, using rare-earth doped hole- burning materials. These materials are theoretically capable of achieving storage densities of 1000 Gigabits/cm3 at input/output (I/O) rates of several gigabits/sec. One remarkable attribute of this storage concept is that both the temporal and spatial information encoded on a laser beam can be stored. Because both the temporal and spatial information can be stored, digital data can be recorded serially as a data or packet stream as well as holographically using the page format. During the past year we have achieved a breakthrough in demonstrating random access holographic data storage at high frame rates. Five hundred holograms were stored and retrieved with very good fidelity at 30 Hz (video rate). Each holographic image with 512 multiplied by 488 pixels could be randomly accessed during the storage and retrieval process. This frame rate is the highest demonstrated frame rate for any optical technique. This breakthrough was achieved through the invention of a memory architecture that allows multiple holographic frames to be stored without any mechanical beam scanning. In this new architecture multiplexing of 500 holograms was achieved by stepping the laser frequency over a range covered by high speed acousto-optic modulators (AOM).

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Jan 15, 1996•0 citations
Analysis of a spectral hole burning memory design implementing high oscillator strength absorbers is reported. While retaining excellent area bit density, potential I/O bandwidth is significantly enhanced while required optical power and energy decrease. Model parameter values that derive from materials recently fabricated and characterized by collaborators indicate excellent data storage system performance.
Spectral hole burning material parameters that impact optical memory architecture and performance are investigated. Optical power budget analysis for the data storage process reveals that although narrow homogeneous linewidth can confer high data density, it does not optimally support high data rates. Trading narrow linewidth for higher oscillator strength would be desirable, if attainable. Experimental measurement of oscillator strengths, quantum yield into alternative hyperfine ground state levels, and persistence of the hyperfine level populations in Eu3+:Y2SiO5 and Pr3+:Y2SiO5 are presented and discussed. Quantum yield measurements of less than 25% indicate that spin projections are strongly preserved during excitation and relaxation processes. The hole depth consequently attainable from single π-pulse illumination requires trade-offs in memory system design.
Unique spectroscopic properties of isolated rare earth ions in solids offer optical linewidths rivaling those of trapped single atoms and enable a variety of recent applications. We design rare-earth-doped crystals, ceramics, and fibers with persistent or transient "spectral hole" recording properties for applications including high-bandwidth optical signal processing where light and our solids replace the high-bandwidth portion of the electronics; quantum cryptography and information science including the goal of storage and recall of single photons; and medical imaging technology for the 700-900 nm therapeutic window. Ease of optically manipulating rare-earth ions in solids enables capturing complex spectral information in 105 to 108 frequency bins. Combining spatial holography and spectral hole burning provides a capability for processing high-bandwidth RF and optical signals with sub-MHz spectral resolution and bandwidths of tens to hundreds of GHz for applications including range-Doppler radar and high bandwidth RF spectral analysis. Simply stated, one can think of these crystals as holographic recording media capable of distinguishing up to 108 different colors. Ultra-narrow spectral holes also serve as a vibration-insensitive sub-kHz frequency reference for laser frequency stabilization to a part in 1013 over tens of milliseconds. The unusual properties and applications of spectral hole burning of rare earth ions in optical materials are reviewed. Experimental results on the promising Tm3+:LiNbO3 material system are presented and discussed for medical imaging applications. Finally, a new application of these materials as dynamic optical filters for laser noise suppression is discussed along with experimental demonstrations and theoretical modeling of the process.
ABSTRACT A review of the status of ultra-high density spectral storage has been presented. Keywords: Ultra-High Density Spectral Storage, Spectral Memories, Terabits Storage, Spectral Holeburning, Optical Holeburning, Multi-layer Th infilm, Power-Gated Holeburning, Optical Materials, Rare Earths 1. INTRODUCTION Spectral Storage offers the highest possible storage densities thus far. Terabits per square inch and even more have been shown to be possible, in principle. Spectral storage is unlike any other type of storage. Magnetic, holographic, multi-layer storage [1], etc., are all macroscopic scale storage in the sense that the macroscopic properties of the recording material are transformed to record a series of zeros and ones. Spectral storage is at the atomic or microscopic scale. A small number of atoms in a solid-state medium are used to store a ‘bit’ of information. This is responsible for the high storage density of spectral storage. A cubic micron of solid has ~10 18
One very exciting application of laser spectroscopy would be to use the high-resolution capabilities of today’s lasers and the phenomenon of persistent spectral hole-burning to form a frequency domain optical storage system.1 In such a system, bits of information would be stored by locally modifying (in the frequency domain) the shape of an inhomogeneously broadened absorption line of an absorber in a solid at low temperatures. Because typical homogeneous widths are 1000X (or more) narrower than typical inhomogeneous widths, as many as 1000 bits could be written in one diffraction-limited 1-μm spot In a sample, yielding the impressive storage density of 1011 bits/cm2.
We are developing a high density, high speed optical memory, using rare-earth doped hole- burning materials. These materials are theoretically capable of achieving storage densities of 1000 Gigabits/cm3 at input/output (I/O) rates of several gigabits/sec. One remarkable attribute of this storage concept is that both the temporal and spatial information encoded on a laser beam can be stored. Because both the temporal and spatial information can be stored, digital data can be recorded serially as a data or packet stream as well as holographically using the page format. During the past year we have achieved a breakthrough in demonstrating random access holographic data storage at high frame rates. Five hundred holograms were stored and retrieved with very good fidelity at 30 Hz (video rate). Each holographic image with 512 multiplied by 488 pixels could be randomly accessed during the storage and retrieval process. This frame rate is the highest demonstrated frame rate for any optical technique. This breakthrough was achieved through the invention of a memory architecture that allows multiple holographic frames to be stored without any mechanical beam scanning. In this new architecture multiplexing of 500 holograms was achieved by stepping the laser frequency over a range covered by high speed acousto-optic modulators (AOM).