Abstract

Persistent spectral hole burning (PHB) in photochemically active media has proven to be an attractive technique for optical data processing and storage.^1,2 The applications of PHB rely on the possibility of modifying in a controlled and permanent way the absorption spectrum of an inhomogeneously broadened sample. The expected enhancement factor N of the memory capacity due to this new (spectral) dimension is equal to the ratio of the inhomogeneous and homogeneous widths, respectively: N = Δv_i/Δv_h.

© 1991 Optical Society of America