Experimental demonstration of impulse-equivalent time-domain optical memory

We demonstrate the impulse-equivalent approach [Opt. Lett. 21, 833 (1996)] to time-domain storage of optical data. Using the 128-bit real Huffman-Ackroyd code as the write-read sequences, we have successfully stored a 42-micros-long stream containing 420 bits of data in a 40-MHz spectral channel in a Eu(3+):Y(2)SiO(5) crystal. The stored data were repeatedly recalled as many as eight times with high signal f idelity, showing no measurable sidelobe-induced noise. Data retrieval with the use of mismatched write-read pulses was also examined, and implications of the results for data encryption are discussed.