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Spectral Hole-Burning and Related Spectroscopies: Science and Applications

New Developments in Time-and-Space-Domain Holography and Shaping of Light Pulses by Spectral Hole-Burning Filters

Rein K. Kaarli, Peeter Saari, Heiki Sõnajalg

Published Jan 1, 1991• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Photochemically instable dye molecules in low-temperature polymers are distributed not only spatially in the medium but also spectrally along the axis of resonant optical transition frequencies and orientationally with reference to the polarization of the transition. Consequently, such composite organic materials -- spectral hole burning media1-4 -- can be considered as novel optical materials possessing not only three-dimensional photosensitivity but also sensitivity to the wavelength and polarization of the incident light.

DOI
10.1364/pshb.1991.thb3

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Four-dimensional photosensitive materials: applications for shaping, time-domain holographic dissection, and scanning of picosecond pulses

Peeter Saari, Rein K. Kaarli, Heiki Sõnajalg

Spectral hole burning media — photochemically i9stable dye molecules in low—temperature polymers hibit very narrow (10 Hz) optical resonances distributed over a wide (10 Hz) band along the frequency axis. Exposure of the medium to recording light field burns a 4—D grating pattern into the dielectric permittivity tensor c(x,y,z,), which in turn determines the temporal behaviour of the linear pulse response of the sample. Based on this phenomenon the common holography has been generalized resulting in a 4—D holography where restored light field is completely identical to the stored one and plays back ultrafast temporal behaviour of the object light as pulsed vector field. In the paper, the approach is extended for applications listed in the title and corresponding experimental results of streak —camera measurements on octaethyl—porphin —doped polystyrene plates are briefly discussed.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Sep 1, 1991•0 citations

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.

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Time-and-space-domain holography in frequency-selective spectral hole burning materials

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Time-and-space-domain holography [1,2] can be regarded as an extension of a conventional holographic process, where, in addition to the spatial image, the hologram plays back the time dependence of an event. The play-back of events is possible because we are using highly frequency-selective inhomogeneously broadened absorbers as recording material. This technique has a variety of potential applications in optical data storage and processing. In the present paper we consider the basic physical principle of time-and-space-domain storage in frequency-selective materials which exploit the effect of spectral hole burning [3]. In particular we will show that organic dye-doped spectral hole burning materials allow recording and playback of pi- co- and femtosecond time-scale events.

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Multidimensional Holography by Persistent Spectral Hole Burning

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Persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) in organic molecules doped in a polymer matrix at low temperatures allows optical recording of information in the dimensions of frequency and time, as well as in space and externally applied electric field. We use this special property to demonstrate new types of holograms, which extend conventional spatial-domain optical data storage into the new dimensions. Basic aspects of recording and playback of holograms by persistent spectral hole burning, including relation between frequency- and time-domain response function, is discussed. This paper is elucidating inherent relations between the time- and frequency-domain versions of PSHB holography. We show that by multiplexing holograms in the frequency dimension, we can store a large number (up to 12 000) of image holograms using a single spectral hole burning sample. In the time domain, we show storage and reproduction of ultrashort time-space images on the scale of 10 -12 −10 -13 s. Experiments demonstrating unusual hologram properties, such as causality-related asymmetry of diffraction, inversion of time coordinate, and ultrafast processing, are presented.

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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).

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Holography in frequency-selective media III Spectral synthesis of arbitrary time-domain pulse shapes

H. Schwoerer, Daniel Erni, Alexander Rebane

We study theoretically and experimentally the synthesis of arbitrary time-domain pulse shapes, using short laser pulses scattered by holograms stored in a spectrally selective hole-burning material. In general, writing holograms in spectrally selective materials results in cross talk and interference between different frequencies because of Kramers–Kronig dispersion relations. We discuss different ways to exclude the cross talk that disturbs faithful reproduction of the desired time-domain pulse shapes. In particular, we show that one can exclude the cross talk by writing holograms in a way that simulates a time-domain offset of the object pulse. To confirm our theoretical considerations we carry out experiments by writing persistent spectral hole-burning holograms with a tunable dye laser in an organic dye–polymer system at low temperature. By reading out the time-domain response with subpicosecond white-light pulses we demonstrate the feasibility of spectral synthesis of light pulses with complicated amplitude and phase properties on the time scale of hundreds of picoseconds with a subpicosecond time resolution.

Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Jun 1, 1995•24 citations
Photochemically instable dye molecules in low-temperature polymers are distributed not only spatially in the medium but also spectrally along the axis of resonant optical transition frequencies and orientationally with reference to the polarization of the transition. Consequently, such composite organic materials -- spectral hole burning media1-4 -- can be considered as novel optical materials possessing not only three-dimensional photosensitivity but also sensitivity to the wavelength and polarization of the incident light.
Spectral hole burning media — photochemically i9stable dye molecules in low—temperature polymers hibit very narrow (10 Hz) optical resonances distributed over a wide (10 Hz) band along the frequency axis. Exposure of the medium to recording light field burns a 4—D grating pattern into the dielectric permittivity tensor c(x,y,z,), which in turn determines the temporal behaviour of the linear pulse response of the sample. Based on this phenomenon the common holography has been generalized resulting in a 4—D holography where restored light field is completely identical to the stored one and plays back ultrafast temporal behaviour of the object light as pulsed vector field. In the paper, the approach is extended for applications listed in the title and corresponding experimental results of streak —camera measurements on octaethyl—porphin —doped polystyrene plates are briefly discussed.
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.
Time-and-space-domain holography [1,2] can be regarded as an extension of a conventional holographic process, where, in addition to the spatial image, the hologram plays back the time dependence of an event. The play-back of events is possible because we are using highly frequency-selective inhomogeneously broadened absorbers as recording material. This technique has a variety of potential applications in optical data storage and processing. In the present paper we consider the basic physical principle of time-and-space-domain storage in frequency-selective materials which exploit the effect of spectral hole burning [3]. In particular we will show that organic dye-doped spectral hole burning materials allow recording and playback of pi- co- and femtosecond time-scale events.
Persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) in organic molecules doped in a polymer matrix at low temperatures allows optical recording of information in the dimensions of frequency and time, as well as in space and externally applied electric field. We use this special property to demonstrate new types of holograms, which extend conventional spatial-domain optical data storage into the new dimensions. Basic aspects of recording and playback of holograms by persistent spectral hole burning, including relation between frequency- and time-domain response function, is discussed. This paper is elucidating inherent relations between the time- and frequency-domain versions of PSHB holography. We show that by multiplexing holograms in the frequency dimension, we can store a large number (up to 12 000) of image holograms using a single spectral hole burning sample. In the time domain, we show storage and reproduction of ultrashort time-space images on the scale of 10 -12 −10 -13 s. Experiments demonstrating unusual hologram properties, such as causality-related asymmetry of diffraction, inversion of time coordinate, and ultrafast processing, are presented.
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).
We study theoretically and experimentally the synthesis of arbitrary time-domain pulse shapes, using short laser pulses scattered by holograms stored in a spectrally selective hole-burning material. In general, writing holograms in spectrally selective materials results in cross talk and interference between different frequencies because of Kramers–Kronig dispersion relations. We discuss different ways to exclude the cross talk that disturbs faithful reproduction of the desired time-domain pulse shapes. In particular, we show that one can exclude the cross talk by writing holograms in a way that simulates a time-domain offset of the object pulse. To confirm our theoretical considerations we carry out experiments by writing persistent spectral hole-burning holograms with a tunable dye laser in an organic dye–polymer system at low temperature. By reading out the time-domain response with subpicosecond white-light pulses we demonstrate the feasibility of spectral synthesis of light pulses with complicated amplitude and phase properties on the time scale of hundreds of picoseconds with a subpicosecond time resolution.