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arXiv:0901.0078 · Physical Review A

Birefringence lens effects of an atom ensemble enhanced by an electromagnetically induced transparency

H. R. Zhang, Lan Zhou, C. P. Sun

Published Jul 16, 2009• 15 citations
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Abstract

We study the optical control for birefringence of a polarized light by an atomic ensemble with a tripod configuration, which is mediated by the electromagnetically induced transparency with a spatially inhomogeneous laser. The atomic ensemble splits the linearly polarized light ray into two orthogonally polarized components, whose polarizations depend on quantum superposition of the initial states of the atomic ensemble. Accompanied with this splitting, the atomic ensemble behaves as a birefringent lens, which allows one polarized light ray passing through straightly while focuses the other light of vertical polarization with finite aberration of focus.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.80.013812

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We study the optical control for birefringence of a polarized light by an atomic ensemble with a tripod configuration, which is mediated by the electromagnetically induced transparency with a spatially inhomogeneous laser. The atomic ensemble splits the linearly polarized light ray into two orthogonally polarized components, whose polarizations depend on quantum superposition of the initial states of the atomic ensemble. Accompanied with this splitting, the atomic ensemble behaves as a birefringent lens, which allows one polarized light ray passing through straightly while focuses the other light of vertical polarization with finite aberration of focus.
We study the birefringence of quantized polarized light in a magneto-optically manipulated atomic ensemble as a generalized Stern-Gerlach effect of light. To explain this engineered birefringence microscopically, we derive an effective Shr\"odinger equation for the spatial motion of two orthogonally polarized components, which behave as a spin with an effective magnetic moment leading to a Stern-Gerlach split in a nonuniform magnetic field. We show that the electromagnetically-induced-transparency mechanism can enhance the magneto-optical Stern-Gerlach effect of light in the presence of a control field with a transverse spatial profile and a nonuniform magnetic field.
We study the angular deflection of the circularly polarized components of a linearly polarized probe field in a weakly birefringent atomic system in tripod configuration. A spatially inhomogeneous control field incident obliquely onto an atomic vapor cell facilitates a large angular divergence between circular components. We show that the angular resolution can be dynamically controlled by optimally choosing the angle of incidence and the transverse profile of the control beam. For instance, by employing a Laguerre-Gaussian profile of the control field, one can impart a large angular divergence to the circular components close to the entry face of the atomic vapor cell. We further demonstrate how such a medium causes the focusing and refocusing of the probe field, thereby acting as a lens with multiple foci. The absorption in the medium remains negligible at resonance due to electromagnetically induced transparency.
We study the angular deflection of the circular polarized components of a linearly polarized probe field in a weakly birefringent atomic system in tripod configuration. A spatially inhomogeneous control field incident obliquely onto an atomic vapor cell facilitates a large angular divergence between circular components. We show that the angular resolution can be dynamically controlled by optimally choosing the angle of incidence and the transverse profile of the control beam. For instance, by employing a Laguerre-Gaussian profile of the control field, one can impart a large angular divergence to the circular components close to the entry face of the atomic vapor cell. We further demonstrate how such a medium causes the focusing and refocusing of the probe field, thereby acting as a convex or a concave lens with multiple foci. The absorption in the medium remains negligible at resonance as a cumulative effect of coherent population oscillations (CPO) and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT).
In recent experiments [e.g., Nature Physics 2 (2006) 332], the enhanced light deflection in an atomic ensemble due to inhomogeneous fields is demonstrated by the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) based mechanism. In this paper, we explore a different mechanism for the similar phenomenon of the enhanced light deflection. This mechanism is based on the coherent population oscillation, which leads to the hole burning in the absorption spectrum. The medium causing the deflection of probe light is an ensemble of two-level atoms manipulated by a strong controlled field on the two photon resonances. In the large detuning condition, the response of the medium to the pump field and signal field is obtained with steady state approximation. And it is found that after the probe field travels across the medium, the signal ray bends due to the spatial-dependent profile of the control beam.
We consider radiative transport in ultracold atomic systems under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. We calculate the macroscopic susceptibility and scattering tensors of the light and show that essential anisotropic optical properties such as dichroism and birefringence naturally appear. In such a case, light propagation through a spatially nonhomogeneous atomic cloud is considered for an arbitrary direction of the probe light. We determine the polarization properties of the coherently transmitted probe light as well as the polarization dependence of light incoherently scattered in an arbitrary direction. Both the steady state regime and time-dependent case are discussed. Concrete calculations are performed for the case of an inhomogeneous and ultracold sample of 87Rb^{87}\text{R}\text{b}87Rb atoms.
We study the coherent propagation of light whose dynamics is governed by the effective Schr\"odinger equation derived in a magneto-optically manipulated atomic ensemble with a four-level tripod configuration for electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The small transverse deflection of an optical beam, which is ultrasensitive to the EIT effect, could be drastically amplified via a weak measurement with an appropriate preselection and postselection of the polarization state. The physical mechanism is explained as the effect of wave-packet reshaping, which results in an enlarged group velocity in the transverse direction.