Long-delay engraving and recovery of chirped femtosecond pulses by spectro-temporal holography in spectral hole-burning molecular solids

The persistent spectral hole-burning (PSHB) phenomenon observed in molecular doped polymers cooled down to liquid helium temperatures allows the engraving of spectral structures in the inhomogeneous absorption profile of the material. Therefore, a PSHB molecular-doped solid can be programmed in the spectral domain and then converted in an optical processor capable to achieve user-defined optical functions. We demonstrate the high storage capacity of naphthalocyanine-doped polymer materials by engraving and retrieving the phase information stored in femtosecond-chirped pulses, even with nanosecond time delay, which correspond to information registered with sub-GHz spectral resolution. Perspectives for the coherent control of light fields or photochemical processes are also evoked.