Abstract

We show experimentally and theoretically that a two-dimensional layer of fluorescent spherical microparticles having a distribution of sizes acts as a persistent spectral holeburning memory at room temperature. This microparticle hole-burning memory, which can be written on and read from at room temperature, derives its homogeneous width from morphology-depehdent resonances of the individual particles, whereas its inhomogeneous width is a consequence of the breadth of the size distribution. The individual particles may be thought of as "photonic atoms" which, as a consequence of weak interparticle interactions, retain their ability to confine photons locally.

© 1992 Optical Society of America