Frequency Domain Optical Storage and Other Applications of Persistent Spectral Hole-Burning

Abstract

This chapter describes several possible applications of persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) with particular emphasis on the application that has received the most attention to date, frequency domain optical storage (FDOS). Engineering and systems issues influencing the form a FDOS system might take are summarized, and optimal properties of single-photon materials are derived. The limitations of monophotonic mechanisms underscore the need for photon-gated processes, and the examples of photon gating known to date are summarized. Other methods of organizing an optical storage system based on PSHB are also described, including holographic, time domain, and electric field schemes. Applications of PSHB to spectral filtering and optical waveform processing are briefly mentioned.