OBSERVATION OF PHOTON-ECHO IN ER3-M(YAG AT 1.527 MU)

We report what is to our knowledge the first experimental observation of two- and three-pulse echoes in Er3+:YAG at 1.527 mu m. The experime nt was performed on the transition from the I-4(15/2) ground state to the lowest Stark level of the I-4(13/2) excited state. The correspondi ng homogeneous dephasing time was measured to be approximately 50 ns a t 1 and 7 K. In addition, three-pulse echo decay indicated a lifetime of the spectral grating of similar to 30 mu s. Implications of these r esults for optical data storage and optical signal processing are disc ussed. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.