SPECTRAL HOLE-BURNING IN DYE-DOPED PLASTIC FIBER

We report persistent spectral hole burning (PSHB) in metal-free tetrap henylporphyrin (TPP) doped polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) core fiber (d iameter: 125-600 mu m, length: 10-55 mm) via the proton tautomerizatio n of TPP. Fabrication of PSHB materials with fiber structure offers an effective way to satisfy one of the vital requirements in PSHB materi als development - PSHB materials need to contain sufficient photoreact ive guest molecules to make it possible to burn many holes within a si ngle focused spot - in order to realize the optimum total storage dens ity in a frequency domain optical data storage scheme. Advantages as w ell as limitations of the fiber PSHB materials are discussed having in view the application for future high density optical data storage.