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Spectral Hole-Burning and Related Spectroscopies: Science and Applications

Multiple Photon-Gated Persistent Spectral Holes Burnt over A Whole Absorption Band in A New System of Frequency-Domain Optical Storage Material

You-yuan Zhao, Yong‐Le Pan, Yu Yin, Lingbing Chen, Ruisheng Wang, Fuming Li, Shaoming Yao, Manhua Zhang

Published Jan 1, 1994• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Persistent spectral hole burning(PSHB) permits use of the frequency domain for achieving ultrahigh-density optical information storage in which the presence of a spectral hole at a particular laser frequency utilized to encode much many bits within a single focused laser spot. The ultimate storage density of the three-dimensional(x,y,f) optical memories can be increased to 109-1011 bits/cm2[1].

DOI
10.1364/shbs.1994.wd27

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Gated spectral hole burning for frequency-domain optical recording

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Persistent spectral hole-burning (PHB) permits use of the optical frequency for encoding digital information through the presence and absence of spectral holes that are burned in inhomogeneously broadened absorption lines at low temperatures. The combination of spectral and spatial data recording can make storage densities of 1010 bits/cm2 possible. The most challenging innovation needed to achieve a practical storage system is presented by the complex materials requirements1 on a successful storage medium.

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CRC Press eBooks•Jul 29, 2020•1 citation
Persistent spectral hole burning(PSHB) permits use of the frequency domain for achieving ultrahigh-density optical information storage in which the presence of a spectral hole at a particular laser frequency utilized to encode much many bits within a single focused laser spot. The ultimate storage density of the three-dimensional(x,y,f) optical memories can be increased to 109-1011 bits/cm2[1].
Persistent spectral hole-burning (PHB) permits use of the optical frequency for encoding digital information through the presence and absence of spectral holes that are burned in inhomogeneously broadened absorption lines at low temperatures. The combination of spectral and spatial data recording can make storage densities of 1010 bits/cm2 possible. The most challenging innovation needed to achieve a practical storage system is presented by the complex materials requirements1 on a successful storage medium.
Persistent spectral hole-burning (PHB, also called photochemical hole-burning) permits use of the optical frequency for encoding digital information through the presence and absence of spectral holes that are burned in inhomogeneously broadened absorption lines at low (liquid helium) temperatures. The optical frequency or wavelength at which a given hole is burned acts as an additional dimension for data storage, hence this optical recording scheme has been called Frequency Domain Optical Storage (FDOS). The combination of spectral and spatial data-recording can make storage densities in excess of 1010 bits/cm2 possible; furthermore, since rotation of the recording medium is not necessary, shorter random access times will result. The future success of the FDOS concept will rely on progress in several technological and engineering areas as well as on advances in several critical materials areas1.
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.
Persistent spectral hole-burning (PHB) is a phenomenon that allows an additional dimension, the frequency at which spectral holes are written, to be used to encode digital data. PHB can be used to store a large number of bits of information in the volume irradiated by a focused laser beam, leading to a possible future storage technology, frequency domain optical storage. A large number of photochemical and photophysical mechanisms have led to the production of spectral holes; a wealth of information has been learned about host-guest interactions, dephasing, and solid-state photochemistry at low temperatures. The general structure of a frequency domain optical store places a set of constraints on the engineering of such a system as well as on the materials used as recording media. The dynamics of the hole-burning process are crucial; for monophotonic mechanisms in particular, a set of stringent constraints can be derived that limit the applicability of this class of materials. Recent discoveries of two-color, photon-gated hole-burning offer special promise for nondestructive reading and improved performance.
Persistent spectral hole burning (PHSB) provides a unique possibility of controlling, by means of illumination with high spectral resolution, optical properties, the coefficient of absorption and the index of refraction in the impurity absorption band of doped solid materials. New versions of holography are the most successful application of PSHB data storage and processing. It utilizes both distributed storage and parallel processing and demonstrates the advantages and potentials of PSHB in this field. An interesting property of time and space-domain holograms occurs in connection with external electric fields: the pseudo-Stark splitting of narrow spectral holes due to the linear Stark effect in an external electric field manifests itself as an additional modulation of holographically stored signals in the time domain. The idea of PSHB time- and space-domain holography is simple. When a PSHB sample is illuminated by a pulse of light, the intensity (more precisely, the doses of illumination), in dependence of the frequency, is stored in the hole profile.