CONTINUOUS COHERENT TRANSIENT OPTICAL-PROCESSING IN A SOLID

We report what is to our knowledge the first experimental demonstratio n of a continuous coherent transient optical processor. A 13-bit patte rn was stored as a spectral population grating in the Eu3+-ion ground state in a Eu3+:Y2SiO5 crystal. A 3120-bit data stream was processed c ontinuously, yielding a cross-correlation signal that agreed well with theory. The data stream's duration exceeded both the absorbing transi tion's homogenous transverse dephasing time and upper-state lifetime. This experiment showed that by permanently storing the pattern as a po pulation grating in the absorber's ground state, coherent transient op tical devices provide continuous, real-time data processing capability . (C) 1995 Optical Society of America