arXiv:1108.1875 · Physical Review A
Nondiffracting optical beams in a three-level Raman system
Tarak Nath Dey, Jörg Evers
Abstract
Diffractionless propagation of optical beams through atomic vapors is investigated. The atoms in the vapor are operated in a three-level Raman configuration. A suitably chosen control beam couples to one of the transitions, and thereby creates a spatially varying index of refraction modulation in the warm atomic vapor for a probe beam that couples to the other transition in the atoms. We show that a Laguerre-Gaussian control beam allows the propagation of single Gaussian probe field modes as well as multi-Gaussian modes and non-Gaussian modes over macroscopic distances without diffraction. This opens perspectives for the propagation of arbitrary images through warm atomic vapors.