Abstract
We demonstrate, we believe for the first time, the capability of spatial pattern recognition by backward stimulated photon echo (BSPE) in a low temperature solid activated by rare earth ions. The BSPE experiment is done with three time-delayed input laser pulses. The first pulse (DATA) contains several characters in its beam profile, the second pulse (WRITE) is a plane wave, and the third (READ) has the search character. The echo pulse profile has peak intensity at the position of the search character. The experiment has a time scale of several tens of nanoseconds. Pattern recognition by BSPE is a result of the convolution/correlation property of holographic four-wave mixing geometry. In contrast to the photorefractive processes, however, the BSPE in rare earth-doped solids is a resonant coherent optical transient effect. By combining spatial and temporal holographic processes of BSPE, it would be possible to construct a high density, high speed optical processor of spatial and temporal data using BSPE.
© 1991 Optical Society of America
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