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Optics Letters

Photon echoes in an amplifying rare-earth-ion-doped crystal

Vincent Crozatier, Guillaume Gorju, Fabien Bretenaker, J.-L. Le Gouët, I. Lorgeré, E. Baldit

Published Jun 1, 2005• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report what we believe is the first experimental demonstration of photon echoes in an amplifying rare-earth-ion-doped crystal. Population inversion is achieved by optical pumping, which yields high-power photon echoes, with an energy gain of as much as a factor of 5. Effects of the pump on the photon echo process highlight the advantages of an amplifying crystal. New questions concerning the optical dephasing mechanisms in Er3+:YSO have arisen.

DOI
10.1364/ol.30.001288

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Results in Physics•May 2, 2019•1 citation
We report what we believe is the first experimental demonstration of photon echoes in an amplifying rare-earth-ion-doped crystal. Population inversion is achieved by optical pumping, which yields high-power photon echoes, with an energy gain of as much as a factor of 5. Effects of the pump on the photon echo process highlight the advantages of an amplifying crystal. New questions concerning the optical dephasing mechanisms in Er3+:YSO have arisen.
In a solid-state ensemble of rare-earth ions, we have experimentally generated a photon-echo of a spontaneous emission event, a process referred to as rephased amplified spontaneous emission (RASE). An enabling step for this demonstration was to use a double-Λ energy level structure for the photon-echo, rather than a standard two-pulse/two-level photon echo sequence, such that the single-photon echo is spectrally and spatially distinguishable from the coherent emission that follows imperfect π-pulses.
We study the optical properties of rare-earth-ion-doped inorganic crystals with an emphasis on the dependence of two-pulse photon echoes on the excitation density in the system. The experimental investigations concentrate on Pr3+{\mathrm{Pr}}^{3+}Pr3+:Nd3+{\mathrm{Nd}}^{3+}Nd3+:Eu3+{\mathrm{Eu}}^{3+}Eu3+ codoped Y2{\mathrm{Y}}_{2}Y2​SiO5{\mathrm{O}}_{5}O5​ and YAlO3{\mathrm{O}}_{3}O3​ crystals at low temperatures. With two pulses of one laser the echo is induced in one ion species and with a third, "scrambler" pulse of a second laser another species is excited. These scrambler excitations lead to a dephasing and thus to an echo attenuation which depends on the strength, frequency, and time of the scrambler pulse. The spectral sensitivity of the echo attenuation is used for a spectroscopic technique: "photon-echo attenuation spectroscopy." As a function of the delay time ts{t}_{s}ts​ between the scrambler pulse and the onset of the two-pulse echo sequence the attenuation shows a very specific behavior dictated by the excitation-induced frequency shifts (EFS's). For ts{t}_{s}ts​ between the two echo-inducing pulses the echo intensity is partially regained by the "dephasing-rephasing balancing" of the reversible EFS's. For the theoretical description a stochastic model is introduced and the dephasing by excitation-induced lattice vibrations and by EFS's are analyzed in detail. The present results are discussed in the light of previous experimental and theoretical investigations.
We have observed various types of photon echoes in a rare-earth doped crystal using a broad-band c.w. dye laser. Even at the very low spectral power density of the laser, the quantum efficiency of photon echo generation is as large as those using high-power or narrow-band lasers. We have observed Carr-Purcell type photon echo series for the first time in a rare-earth doped crystal. We have measured relaxation of two-pulse photon echo, three-pulse stimulated photon echo, and many-pulse Carr-Purcell photon echo, and found some new features.
Probe field amplification without population inversion in a one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) doped by four-level rare-earth ions is proposed. By controlling the intensity of the coupling field, probe field absorption with population inversion converts to probe field amplification without population inversion. It is found that the amount of probe field amplification through the photonic crystal doped by rare-earth ions is larger than the probe field amplification for the same ions in free space. For a particular coupling field intensity, i.e. Ωc=5.1Γ, the probe field absorption converts to probe field amplification just by manipulating the probe field detuning.