TIME-DOMAIN OPTICAL-DATA STORAGE BY PHOTON-ECHO

Principles and applications of time-domain optical data storage using stimulated photon echo are briefly reviewed. Special emphasis is laid upon the comparison of this memory with holography; both memories use the interference between two optical waves. Some new experimental developments are introduced using samples of europium-ion-doped crystals, one of the most promising candidates in time-domain data storage. Some other topics, such as ultrafast data storage, time-domain data processing, and time- and spatial-image storage using photon echo, are also discussed.