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Time Domain Spectral Hole-Burning Storage

Michael Jefferson

Published May 2, 1994• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

This work achieved several substantial results. A highly stabilized laser system suitable for many detailed studies of data storage phenomena was constructed and made to work. This laser was essential for the investigations which followed. Using the stabilized laser, a real time correlator was demonstrated, which correctly identified all occurances of a test sequence imbedded in random data. This correlator is the first demonstration of the use of phase modulation to store and retreive data in time domain hole-burning. In the frequency domain, narrow holes were burned and scanned, and information storage at a spectral density exceeding 50,000 bits per spot was demonstrated, with perfect recall and excellent signal to noise. We have also made the first demonstration of a novel technique for storing and retreiving phase modulated data streams with time domain spectral hole-burning. This demonstration has been disclosed for patent purposes.

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Materials for spectral hole-burning storage

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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.

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Time-and-space-domain holography [1,2] by stimulated photon echoes [3] provides a means of storing temporal and spatial properties of an ultrafast-varying light signal and recalling its authentic replica at any later moment. The possibility of recording complex time shapes of light pulses, which also means time-domain optical data storage, is based on the ability of frequency-selective absorbers to store with high accuracy the temporal Fourier components of the incident light [1-3]. The time-domain frequency-selective optical storage of binary or analog data is an alternative approach to the concept of frequency-selective high-density data storage that provides a parallel ultrafast data storage and processing in the frequency domain. The shortest detail of the signal to be stored is limited by the reverse inhomogeneous bandwidth of the storing media which reaches 10-100 fs for frequency-selective materials while the duration of the signal is limited by phase relaxation time T2 (usually 10-3-10-6s).

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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).

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Persistent spectral hole burning permits use of optical frequency for encoding digital information at cryogenic temperatures, with storage densities far beyond the limits of conventional laser–disk recording. In the work presented here, several key technological issues of such a storage system have been investigated. Data were encoded with high spatial and spectral resolution using a specially designed cryostat. The fast tuning characteristics of semiconductor diode lasers were studied to test the feasibility of fast data access in the frequency domain. Fast readout was investigated in a simulation experiment using heterodyne detection with frequency modulated diode lasers.

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Miao Zhu, C. Michael Jefferson

There has been a great deal of interest in the use of rare earth doped materials such as Eu3 +: Y 2 SiO 5 for ultra-high density data storage using time domain techniques 1,2,3,4. These materials can exhibit T2 times as long as 800 μsec or more3,5 with corresponding projected linewidths of only several hundred Hertz. Since the typical linewidth of lasers used to investigate these materials (e.g. dye lasers) is of the order of 1 to 5 MHz, detailed studies of phenomena which can exploit the long coherence time of the excited state are difficult. Studies of phase modulation, continuous correlation, population gratings, free induction decay and so forth are greatly impacted by the laser linewidth. In addition, the actual linewidth of single persistent spectral holes has never been directly measured in these materials.

Spectral Hole-Burning and Related Spectroscopies: Science and Applications•Jan 1, 1994•0 citations
This work achieved several substantial results. A highly stabilized laser system suitable for many detailed studies of data storage phenomena was constructed and made to work. This laser was essential for the investigations which followed. Using the stabilized laser, a real time correlator was demonstrated, which correctly identified all occurances of a test sequence imbedded in random data. This correlator is the first demonstration of the use of phase modulation to store and retreive data in time domain hole-burning. In the frequency domain, narrow holes were burned and scanned, and information storage at a spectral density exceeding 50,000 bits per spot was demonstrated, with perfect recall and excellent signal to noise. We have also made the first demonstration of a novel technique for storing and retreiving phase modulated data streams with time domain spectral hole-burning. This demonstration has been disclosed for patent purposes.
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.
Time-and-space-domain holography [1,2] by stimulated photon echoes [3] provides a means of storing temporal and spatial properties of an ultrafast-varying light signal and recalling its authentic replica at any later moment. The possibility of recording complex time shapes of light pulses, which also means time-domain optical data storage, is based on the ability of frequency-selective absorbers to store with high accuracy the temporal Fourier components of the incident light [1-3]. The time-domain frequency-selective optical storage of binary or analog data is an alternative approach to the concept of frequency-selective high-density data storage that provides a parallel ultrafast data storage and processing in the frequency domain. The shortest detail of the signal to be stored is limited by the reverse inhomogeneous bandwidth of the storing media which reaches 10-100 fs for frequency-selective materials while the duration of the signal is limited by phase relaxation time T2 (usually 10-3-10-6s).
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 permits use of optical frequency for encoding digital information at cryogenic temperatures, with storage densities far beyond the limits of conventional laser–disk recording. In the work presented here, several key technological issues of such a storage system have been investigated. Data were encoded with high spatial and spectral resolution using a specially designed cryostat. The fast tuning characteristics of semiconductor diode lasers were studied to test the feasibility of fast data access in the frequency domain. Fast readout was investigated in a simulation experiment using heterodyne detection with frequency modulated diode lasers.
There has been a great deal of interest in the use of rare earth doped materials such as Eu3 +: Y 2 SiO 5 for ultra-high density data storage using time domain techniques 1,2,3,4. These materials can exhibit T2 times as long as 800 μsec or more3,5 with corresponding projected linewidths of only several hundred Hertz. Since the typical linewidth of lasers used to investigate these materials (e.g. dye lasers) is of the order of 1 to 5 MHz, detailed studies of phenomena which can exploit the long coherence time of the excited state are difficult. Studies of phase modulation, continuous correlation, population gratings, free induction decay and so forth are greatly impacted by the laser linewidth. In addition, the actual linewidth of single persistent spectral holes has never been directly measured in these materials.