We report on a new, to the best of our knowledge, type of optical memory that allows for the amplification of the optical signal carrying the stored information during its reading process. The memory mechanism is demonstrated in an ensemble of cold cesium atoms and is based on the multiple parametric four-wave mixing exploring the external atomic degrees of freedom via recoil-induced resonances. We have particularly demonstrated the storage of light carrying orbital angular momentum with a fourfold amplifying factor for the retrieved signal during the reading process. Memory lifetimes of the order of hundreds of microseconds have been measured, and possible applications for this self-amplifying memory are discussed.

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A theoretical and experimental analysis is developed for an atomic memory based on recoil-induced resonance. Control of such memories on external degrees of freedom is crucial to explore higher order nonlinearities for storage of information.

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We present a first-principles model for a non-volatile atomic memory based on recoil-induced resonances (RIR) and directly compare it to experimental data obtaining a good agreement on all phases of the experiment.