Abstract

Stimulated photon echoes from optically active ions in glasses have long been used to study effects related to the molecular dynamics of the host medium in the immediate vicinity of the active site. Recently, photon echoes have been suggested for use in high speed optical circuitry and in optical memory storage. This technology offers unique systems potential because it permits analog spatial information to be processed at digital-gate intervals. Because active ions can be incorporated into the matrix of a glass in higher concentrations than they can be doped into the lattice of a crystal, amorphous solids are potentially more suitable host materials for these applications than are crystals. In this paper the Judd-Ofelt parameters and the Einstein coefficients are used to calculate the time evolution of population gratings and stimulated echo intensities at 0.8 and 1.22μm from an inverted ensemble of erbium ions in doped (2 mol. %) heavy-metal fluorozirconate glass. A simple mathematical model composed of constant-condition interaction and relaxation sequences is invoked.

© 1990 Optical Society of America