CVD Diamond Doped with Transition Metals and Rare Earths for Persistent Spectral Hole Burning Memory Applications

The advent of broadly tunable laser sources raises the possibility of using the phenomenon of spectral hole burning of inhomogeneously broadened absorption lines to implement optical information storage via wavelength addressed holographic recording and readout. CVD diamond suggests itself as a candidate for this application because several color center absorption lines, severely broadened by the inhomogeneous strain fields typical of CVD diamond, have been demonstrated {1} to exhibit spectral hole burning at 77K. In the proposed work we will examine CVD diamond doped with transition metals and rare earths for inhomogeneously broadened absorption lines that may be placed conveniently to the tuning range of diode lasers. Doping will be accomplished in a hot filament reactor equipped with a dopant vapor source. Optical characterization of samples will take place at the Large Bangap Semiconconductor Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh, under the direction of Professor W.J. Choyke.