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arXiv:1210.1939 · Optics Letters

Optical vortices induced in nonlinear multilevel atomic vapors

Yiqi Zhang, Zhenkun Wu, Chenzhi Yuan, Xin Yao, Keqing Lu, Milivoj R. Belić, Yanpeng Zhang

Published Oct 29, 2012• 23 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In a numerical investigation, we demonstrate the existence and curious evolution of vortices in a ladder-type three-level nonlinear atomic vapor with linear, cubic, and quintic susceptibilities considered simultaneously with the dressing effect. We find that the number of beads and topological charge of the incident beam, as well as its size, greatly affect the formation and evolution of vortices. To determine the number of induced vortices and the corresponding rotation direction, we give common rules associated with the initial conditions coming from various incident beams.

DOI
10.1364/ol.37.004507

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In a numerical investigation, we demonstrate the existence and curious evolution of vortices in a ladder-type three-level nonlinear atomic vapor with linear, cubic, and quintic susceptibilities considered simultaneously with the dressing effect. We find that the number of beads and topological charge of the incident beam, as well as its size, greatly affect the formation and evolution of vortices. To determine the number of induced vortices and the corresponding rotation direction, we give common rules associated with the initial conditions coming from various incident beams.
We investigate numerically the dynamics of optical vortex beams carrying different topological charges, launched in a dissipative three-level ladder-type nonlinear atomic vapor. We impose the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) condition on the medium. Linear, cubic, and quintic susceptibilities, considered simultaneously with the dressing effect, are included in the analysis. Generally, the beams slowly expand during propagation and new vortices are induced, commonly appearing in oppositely charged pairs. We demonstrate that not only the form and the topological charge of the incident beam but also its growing size in the medium greatly affect the formation and evolution of vortices. We formulate common rules for finding the number of induced vortices and the corresponding rotation directions, stemming from the initial conditions of various incident beams, as well as from the dynamical aspects of their propagation. The net topological charge of the vortex is conserved during propagation, as it should be, but the total number of charges is not necessarily the same as the initial number, because of the complex nature of the system. When the EIT condition is lifted, an enhancement region of beam dynamics is reached, in which the dynamics and the expansion of the beam greatly accelerate. In the end, we discuss the liquid-like behavior of light evolution in this dissipative system and propose a potential experimental scheme for observing such a behavior.
In a numerical investigation, we demonstrate the evolution of a one-dimensional and two-dimensional finite energy Airy beam in a Λ-type three-level atomic vapor with linear, cubic, and quintic susceptibilities considered simultaneously with the dressing effect. Quasi-solitons and soliton pairs are observed due to this competition mechanism. We find that the frequency detuning of the pump field and its power greatly affect the formation and evolution of generated solitons. In general, around the two-photon resonance point and for low intensities of the pump field, it is less difficult to form solitons. This investigation enriches the study of the propagation properties of Airy beams and soliton generation in atomic vapor.
Abstract We demonstrate the existence and curious propagation dynamics of self-accelerating beams in Λ-type three-level nonlinear atomic vapors with Kerr and cubic-quintic nonlinearities through numerical investigation and mathematical modelling. Upon adjusting the generation and propagation conditions, these nonlinear accelerating beams exhibit different evolution properties. We demonstrate that the input beams can propagate robustly in the medium regardless of its absorption properties. The shape and peak intensity of the main lobes of these input beams, which are the eigenmodes of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) in atomic media, are preserved for a significantly long propagation distance. If such beams are not the modes of the system, they are subjected to the under-healing or over-healing effect, which damages the shape of the self-accelerating beams. We also discuss the interactions between truncated accelerating beams, which readily generate non-accelerating solitons and soliton pairs. The results indicate that the atomic vapor can serve as a promising medium for the generation of nonlinear self-accelerating beams.
We experimentally investigate the soliton formation and dynamics in the nonlinear propagation of the generated signal and probe beams in four-wave mixing (FWM) process with atomic coherence in a three-level atomic system, under the competition between focusing and defocusing nonlinearities, as well as between gain and dissipation, due to the third- and fifth-order nonlinear susceptibilities with opposite signs. With multi-parameter controllability and nonlinear competition in the system, fundamental, dipole, and azimuthally-modulated vortex FWM solitons can transform mutually from one to the other. Such investigations have potential applications in optical pattern formation and control, and all-optical communication.
We consider propagation of a weakly nonlinear probe light beam in a resonant three-level atomic system where an optical lattice is induced by a standing-wave control field and conditions for electromagnetically induced transparency are created. We employ a unified theory to solve the respective nonlinear system of equations in various regimes and investigate formation of spatial optical solitons and instabilities, both analytically and numerically. We show that the effect of the lattice is twofold. On the one hand it allows one to reduce the probe beam intensity necessary for observation of nonlinear effects until the level of one-photon energy, and on the other hand the lattice allows for implementation of different dynamical regimes either by simple manipulation of its parameters or by varying one- and two-photon detunings or by changing the geometry of the incident probe beam.
We investigate the propagation of an optical vector vortex weakly interacting with a coherently prepared atomic medium (phaseonium) in a three-level ΛΛΛ configuration. The vector beam consists of vortex pulse pairs with right- and left-circular polarizations, corresponding to opposite spin angular momentum (SAM), and carrying opposite orbital angular momentum (OAM) charges ±l\pm l±l. We show that during the propagation of the vortex pairs, analytically obtained in the linear regime, the medium inherits the topology of the vortex pair, mapping the OAM onto a spatially structured atomic coherence. This mapping produces 2∣l∣−2|l|-2∣l∣−fold azimuthal transparency structures that reshape the beam intensity from a ring into a petal-like pattern. The OAM-structured atomic coherence induces a corresponding optical anisotropy within the medium, which feeds back into the propagating vector beam, resulting in optical spin-orbit coupling manifested as SAM exchange, rotation, and evolution of polarization textures. Depending on the initial ground-state population of the phaseonium, the polarization state evolves between left-circular, linear, and right-circular polarizations.