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Physical Review Letters

Wavelength- and Angle-Selective Optical Memory Effect by Interference of Multiple-Scattered Light

Atusi Kurita, Yasuo Kanematsu, Masahito Watanabe, Kuniko Hirata, Takashi Kushida

Published Aug 23, 1999• 44 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report observations of a new optical memory effect in Sm-doped ZnS nanocrystals and elucidate its mechanism. One of the salient properties of this effect is that the incident angle as well as the wavelength of incoming light is memorized with high resolution. We show that this effect is not based upon spectral selection of homogeneous absorption lines as in the persistent spectral hole-burning effect but upon recording of interference patterns of multiple-scattered light in disordered media.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.83.1582

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Persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) is expected to be a mechanism for future ultrahigh density multi-wavelength optical memory whose density can be higher than the conventional optical memory by 10 to 104 times. PSHB optical memories are mainly studied for dye-doped polymers, but the hole burning temperatures for such poleymers are limited to tempertures lower than 140 K [1], Recently room-temperature PSHB has been observed in Sm2+ doped halide crystals [2-4] and glasses [5], and borate glasses [6]. The halide crystals are not bulk single crystals but polycrystals.

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We report observations of a new optical memory effect in Sm-doped ZnS nanocrystals and elucidate its mechanism. One of the salient properties of this effect is that the incident angle as well as the wavelength of incoming light is memorized with high resolution. We show that this effect is not based upon spectral selection of homogeneous absorption lines as in the persistent spectral hole-burning effect but upon recording of interference patterns of multiple-scattered light in disordered media.
Optical devices have been slower to mature than those based purely on electronics. Yet optical interactions offer a number of unique capabilities expected to support entirely new classes of devices-devices offering unprecedented performance in communications, computing, and data storage applications. In the present work, optical devices based on the interaction of light with frequency-selective recording materials are discussed. A frequency-selective recording material has the capability of supporting multiple independent recording channels. Each channel is addressed by light within a specific narrow band of optical frequencies. In some materials, operative at cryogenic temperatures, millions of distinct spectral channels are available. Through the mechanism of persistent spectral hole-burning, light can be employed to transiently or even permanently modify the absorptive or dispersive properties of the recording material within a selected channel. Such modifications provide a means of recording multiple bits of optical information within single spatial locations. Spectral multiplexing of information has clear potential in information storage systems. Less obviously, the ability to spectrally encode information provides an enabling basis for ultrahigh speed, content-controlled, all-optical switching devices operable at data speeds up to the Terabit/sec level.
We analyzed the shape and width of room-temperature persistent holes in photoreactive and multiple-scattering media in frequency and wave-vector domains. The shape and width of holes depend on sample thickness, transport mean free path, geometrical configuration, and absorption lengths. The measurements of the angular dependence of hole burning in a disordered CdS0.85Se0.15{\mathrm{CdS}}_{0.85}{\mathrm{Se}}_{0.15}CdS0.85​Se0.15​- doped glass sample were in quantitative agreement with theory.
The use of holography is attractive for optical data storage due to its poten­tial for implementing page oriented data storage systems. However, multiplexed recording using Bragg selective materials has not provided a large enough stor­age capability to justify the expense of these systems. Persistent spectral hole burning holography allows multiplexed recording using much smaller wavelength separations between the holograms, and hence dramatically increases the storage capacity possible in holographic memory systems [1]. A comparison between the wavelength selectivity obtained for transmission gratings recorded using hole burning in a dye doped polymer film versus Bragg selectivity in a 1 cm thick iron-doped lithium niobate crystal is shown in Fig. (1).
Summary form only given. Persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) of rare-earth-doped inorganic materials has attracted much attention in view of application to high-density optical memories. In particular, it seems that the glass materials are advantageous for application in wavelength-selective optical devices, as well as the memory devices, because of their large inhomogeneous linewidth. The wavelength-selective devices are key components in the wavelength-division multiplexing system, which is important for the next-generation optical communication technology. The problem for practical application lies in the fact that PSHB of rare-earth ions in glasses is usually observed only at temperature below 20 K. However, room-temperature PSHB has been observed recently for Sm/sup 2+/-doped crystals and glasses.
Persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) [1] allows for frequency selective recording of holograms and opens interesting prospects for high density optical information storage and processing. When hole burning is performed with the interference pattern of two crossed laser beams a spectrally narrow hole is created in an inhomogeneously broadened absorption band and simultaneously the spatial fringe pattern is recorded as a modulation of the hole depth. During reconstruction of the hologram diffraction from this spatial fringe pattern occurs, reflecting the changes of the absorption coefficient and the refractive index introduced by the spectral hole [2].
Persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) is expected to be a mechanism for future ultrahigh density multi-wavelength optical memory whose density can be higher than the conventional optical memory by 10 to 104 times. PSHB optical memories are mainly studied for dye-doped polymers, but the hole burning temperatures for such poleymers are limited to tempertures lower than 140 K [1], Recently room-temperature PSHB has been observed in Sm2+ doped halide crystals [2-4] and glasses [5], and borate glasses [6]. The halide crystals are not bulk single crystals but polycrystals.