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arXiv:1203.0034 · Physical Review A

Dynamics of a three-level Λ -type system driven by trains of ultrashort laser pulses

Ekaterina Ilinova, Andrei Derevianko

Published Jul 26, 2012• 8 citations
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Abstract

We study the dynamics of three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type atoms driven by a coherent train of short, nonoverlapping laser pulses. We derive analytical nonperturbative expressions for the density matrix by approximating the pulses by a $\ensuremath{\delta}$ function. We demonstrate that, depending on the train parameters, several scenarios of system dynamics can be realized. We show the possibility of driving Raman transitions between the two ground states of the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ system, avoiding populating excited states by using pulses with effective area equal to $2\ensuremath{\pi}$. The number of $2\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses needed to transfer the entire population from one ground state to another depends on the ratio between the Rabi frequencies of two allowed transitions. In the case of equal Rabi frequencies, the system can be transferred from one ground state to another with a single $2\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulse. When the total pulse area differs from $2\ensuremath{\pi}$ and the two-photon resonance condition is fulfilled, the system evolves into a ``dark'' state and becomes transparent to subsequent pulses. The third possible scenario is the quasi-steady-state regime when neither the total single-pulse area is equal to $2\ensuremath{\pi}$ nor is the two-photon resonance condition fulfilled. In this regime the radiative-decay-induced drop in the population following a given pulse is fully restored by the subsequent pulse. We derive an analytical expression for the density matrix in the quasi-steady-state regime. We analyze the dependence of the postpulse excited-state population in the quasi-steady-state regime on the train parameters. We find the optimal values for the train parameters corresponding to the maximum of the excited-state population. The maximum of the excited-state population in the steady-state regime is reached at an effective single-pulse area equal to $\ensuremath{\pi}$ and is equal to $2/3$ in the limiting case when its radiative lifetime is much shorter than the pulse repetition period.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.86.013423

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We study the dynamics of three-level \ensuremathΛ\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremathΛ-type atoms driven by a coherent train of short, nonoverlapping laser pulses. We derive analytical nonperturbative expressions for the density matrix by approximating the pulses by a \ensuremathδ\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremathδ function. We demonstrate that, depending on the train parameters, several scenarios of system dynamics can be realized. We show the possibility of driving Raman transitions between the two ground states of the \ensuremathΛ\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremathΛ system, avoiding populating excited states by using pulses with effective area equal to 2\ensuremathπ2\ensuremath{\pi}2\ensuremathπ. The number of 2\ensuremathπ2\ensuremath{\pi}2\ensuremathπ pulses needed to transfer the entire population from one ground state to another depends on the ratio between the Rabi frequencies of two allowed transitions. In the case of equal Rabi frequencies, the system can be transferred from one ground state to another with a single 2\ensuremathπ2\ensuremath{\pi}2\ensuremathπ pulse. When the total pulse area differs from 2\ensuremathπ2\ensuremath{\pi}2\ensuremathπ and the two-photon resonance condition is fulfilled, the system evolves into a ``dark'' state and becomes transparent to subsequent pulses. The third possible scenario is the quasi-steady-state regime when neither the total single-pulse area is equal to 2\ensuremathπ2\ensuremath{\pi}2\ensuremathπ nor is the two-photon resonance condition fulfilled. In this regime the radiative-decay-induced drop in the population following a given pulse is fully restored by the subsequent pulse. We derive an analytical expression for the density matrix in the quasi-steady-state regime. We analyze the dependence of the postpulse excited-state population in the quasi-steady-state regime on the train parameters. We find the optimal values for the train parameters corresponding to the maximum of the excited-state population. The maximum of the excited-state population in the steady-state regime is reached at an effective single-pulse area equal to \ensuremathπ\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremathπ and is equal to 2/32/32/3 in the limiting case when its radiative lifetime is much shorter than the pulse repetition period.
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In this paper, we investigate the evolutional dynamics of a Λ-type atomic system of which two branches of transitions are driven by two trains of ultrashort pulse respectively. The accumulating of atomic populations and coherences due to excitations of successive pulses are demonstrated by the numerical simulations. The realization of the coherent population trapping (CPT) effect is verified. When the spontaneous generated coherence (SGC) is considered, the system will evolve to the dark state even when the initial state is not the dark state if the degree of the SGC is not maximal and the degree of the SGC will influence the time needed to reach the atomic steady state. With the maximal degree of SGC, whether the system will evolve into the dark state depends on the initial state. This fact means that the maximal SGC spoils the dark state geometry, which a Λ-type atom driven by light field satisfies. Additionally, we found that the involvement of the phase of the driving field can counteract the destruction stem from the maximal degree of the SGC on the dark state geometry, i.e. the system can be trapped in the dark state even when the initial state is not the dark state. Meanwhile, it is found that the phase can adjust the time needed by the system to reach the steady state in a quite wide range.
A general, analytic theory is presented of the excitation of a two-level atom by a series of short optical laser pulses. The atom is assumed to be isolated (collisionless) with radiative decay from upper to lower state at rate γ. The laser pulses are assumed to have a duration tp such that γtp ≪ 1 (the transient regime), and the spacing between pulses tr is such that tr ≫ tp. In this regime the atomic density matrix is calculated as a function of time during each optical pulse. An analytic expression for the atomic state (Bloch vector) after n optical pulses is also derived. For large n the atomic state converges to a repeating (steady state) cycle of pump excitation followed by radiative decay. The excited-state population in the steady state can be large but only if the spacing between pulses tr is small so that γtr ≲ 0.5. These results indicate that lasers that produce trains of pulses, such as mode-locked conventional lasers and free-electron lasers, can be effective in optical pumping of atoms.
We present an analysis of coherent population trapping in a three-level Λ system when excited by an ultrashort pulse train near the one- and two-photon resonances. Numerical results using Bloch equations give the transient response of the system and clearly reveal a comb of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) lines. An analytical solution to describe the EIT lines is derived in the steady-state regime and in the weak field limit. Moreover, numerical results indicate that selective velocity spectroscopy makes possible the observation of the comb of EIT lines in Doppler broadening media.
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We investigate the excitation of an atomic degenerate-$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ system by a train of ultrashort pulses. An iterative analytic solution to the optical Bloch equations is found describing the temporal evolution of the density matrix elements. We show that electromagnetically induced transparency of the excitation pulses develops through the coherent accumulation of excitation (population and coherence) between the degenerate lower states. The influence of the pulse train parameters (area, repetition period, and phase between successive pulses) on establishing the transparency is investigated.