Abstract

The optical coherence of erbium ion transitions in optical fibers may provide a basis for time-domain optical memory.’ The homogeneous lifetime at cryogenic temperatures is sufficiently long in erbium- doped silicate fibers that these effects can be observed in photon-echo experiments.¹ The coherence at low temperatures is determined by defect conformational relaxation,² and should depend strongly on the host matrix and the fabrication conditions, where the defect density can be controlled by the oxidation conditions and the stress.

© 1992 Optical Society of America