Active media for optical data processing in optoelectronic devices

Peculiarities of color center production and their photostimulable recombin ation in doped alkali halide thin films have been analysed with regard to t heir availability as active highly sensitive luminescent storage media for fast optical data processing. It is concluded that the radiation defects in all the doped systems are spatially distributed in the near vicinity of th e dopants. The influence of the surface is clearly pronounced in polycrysta lline films. The escape of unrelaxed H-centers from the surface considerabl y changes the distribution of F- and dopant hole centers, forming an intera cting F-center chain near the surface of grains. This is why temperature-in dependent F-center production and photostimulable recombination between dis tant pairs is observed in doped nanostructures. The main functional abiliti es of the active media are also discussed.