All-optical dynamic memory for fiber communications

We report on the development of a compact and fully optical fiber coupled memory unit based on time-domain holography in Er3+:Y2SiO3 for the storage of large bandwidth, bit-serial optical data at 1.536 and 1.538 micrometers . Using this demonstration unit, we have successfully stored 1020 bits of data in a 40-MHz wide spectral channel at a single spatial location in the sample. The raw bit error rate of the unit was measured to be approximately 10-7 with the use of a simple peak detection scheme. We further show that the power of the retrieved data can be restored completely to the level of input data by a single erbium-doped fiber amplifier. Implications of the results for an all-optical dynamic optical memory are discussed.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.