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Experiments verifying a new method of storing spectral hole-burning holograms, which yields reduced cross talk as compared with standard spectral hole-burning holograms, have been conducted. Results demonstrating the reduced width of this type of hologram in both frequency and the applied electric-field dimension are presented. Analytic solutions for the spectral width and diffraction efficiency of these holograms are presented. Using this exposure technique, we have recorded 6000 holograms in a single spectral hole-burning sample.

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A new hologram type in spectral hole-burning systems is presented. During exposure, the frequency of narrow-band laser light is swept over a spectral range that corresponds to a few homogeneous linewidths of the spectrally selective recording material. Simultaneously the phase of the hologram is adjusted as a function of frequency-the phase sweep function. Because of the phase-reconstructing properties of holography, this recording technique programs the sample as a spectral amplitude and phase filter. We call this hologram type frequency and phase swept (FPS) holograms. Their properties and applications are summarized, and a straightforward theory is presented that describes all the diffraction phenomena observed to date. Thin FPS holograms show strongly asymmetric diffraction into conjugated diffraction orders, which is an unusual behavior for thin transmission holograms. Investigations demonstrate the advantages of FPS holograms with respect to conventional cw recording techniques in freq ncymultiplexed data storage. By choosing appropriate phase sweep functions, various features of holographic data storage can be optimized. Examples for cross-talk reduction, highest diffraction efficiency, and maximal readout stability are demonstrated. The properties of these FPS hologram types are deduced from theoretical considerations and confirmed by experiments.

We demonstrate the temporal compression of photon echoes in frequency-selective materials by application of frequency-swept excitation pulses. Experimental results in Pr(3+):Y(2)SiO(5) for two- and three-pulse photon echoes are presented and compared with theory. A possible application to temporal reduction of optical data streams is shown.