Controlled Stark shifts in Er$^{3+}$-doped crystalline and amorphous waveguides for quantum state storage

Sara R. Hastings-Simon, Matthias U. Staudt, Mikael Afzelius, Pascal Baldi, Didier Jaccard, Wolfgang Tittel, Nicolas Gisin

Published 2006-03-22, updated 2006-03-29Version 2

We present measurements of the linear Stark effect on the $^{4}$I$_{15/2} \to$ $^{4}$I$_{13/2}$ transition in an Er$^{3+}$-doped proton-exchanged LiNbO$_{3}$ crystalline waveguide and an Er$^{3+}$-doped silicate fiber. The measurements were made using spectral hole burning techniques at temperatures below 4 K. We measured an effective Stark coefficient $(\Delta\mu_{e}\chi)/(h)=25\pm1$kHz/Vcm$^{-1}$ in the crystalline waveguide and $(\bar{\Delta\mu_{e}}\chi)/(h)=15\pm1$kHz/Vcm$^{-1}$ in the silicate fiber. These results confirm the potential of Erbium doped waveguides for quantum state storage based on controlled reversible inhomogeneous broadening.