Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1309.0615 · Physical Review A

Diffractionless image propagation and frequency conversion via four-wave mixing exploiting the thermal motion of atoms

Lida Zhang, Jörg Evers

Published Jan 15, 2014• 13 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A setup to frequency-convert an arbitrary image encoded in the spatial profile of a probe field onto a signal field using four-wave mixing in a thermal atom vapor is proposed. The atomic motion is exploited to cancel diffraction of both signal and probe fields simultaneously. We show that an incoherent probe field can be used to enhance the transverse momentum bandwidth which can be propagated without diffraction, such that smaller structures with higher spatial resolution can be transmitted. It furthermore compensates linear absorption with nonlinear gain, to improve the four-wave mixing performance since the propagation dynamics of the various field intensities is favorably modified.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.89.013817

Related papers

Efficient frequency conversion of non-diffracting modes via four-wave mixing in rubidium vapor

Onkar N. Verma, Niti Kant

Abstract We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of non-diffracting optical modes via non-degenerate four-wave mixing(FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via afour-level double-Λ type atomic system to produce a new frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of probe field are efficiently transferred to FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of Stokes beam are identical to that of probe beam while phase profile is complimentary.The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about 99%, which substantiates the high efficiency of FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.

•Jun 8, 2023•0 citations

Nonlinear frequency conversion of nondiffracting modes via nondegenerate four-wave mixing in atomic vapor

Onkar N. Verma, Niti Kant

We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of nondiffracting optical modes via a nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via a four-level double-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ type atomic system to produce a low frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of the probe field are efficiently transferred to the FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase-matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of the Stokes beam are identical to that of the probe beam, while the phase profile is complementary. The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about $99%$, which substantiates the high efficiency of the FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.

Physical Review A•Mar 13, 2024•4 citations

Uniform phase modulation via control of refractive index in a thermal atom vapor with vanishing diffraction or absorption

Lida Zhang, Jörg Evers

A scheme is proposed to achieve substantial controllable phase modulation for a probe field propagating through a thermal atomic vapor in double-$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ configuration. The phase modulation is based on manipulating the linear susceptibility of the probe field, paraxial diffraction is eliminated by exploiting the thermal motion of atoms, and residual absorption is compensated via an incoherent pump field. As a result of the homogeneous change in the refractive index, a strong controllable uniform phase modulation without paraxial diffraction is achieved essentially independent of the spatial profile or the intensity of the probe field. This phase shift can be controlled via the intensities of the control or the incoherent pump fields. A possible proof-of-principle experiment in alkali-metal atoms is discussed.

arXiv:1405.3053•Physical Review A•Aug 14, 2014•13 citations

Efficient transfer of spatial intensity and phase information of arbitrary modes via four-wave mixing in an atomic vapor

Onkar N. Verma, Ravi Kamal Pandey, Raja Ram Yadav +1 more

We propose a scheme to transfer the spatial intensity as well as phase information encoded initially in the spatial profile of a weak probe field onto a newly generated Stokes field in a nonlinear process of four-wave mixing (FWM). The FWM process is explored in a gaseous medium consisting of atoms modeled as a three-level system in the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ configuration. We found that different orders of Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian modes carried by a probe beam are effectively transferred to a Stokes beam. Interestingly, the transferred intensity of the Stokes beam is a clone of the probe beam, whereas the phase profile is conjugate to the probe. The phase distribution of the transmitted modes at the exit of the medium is explored by superimposing them on a copropagating plane wave. Moreover, the parametric amplification due to the nonlinear process of FWM prevents any information loss due to linear absorption and permits us to work at high optical depths. We found a structural similarity between transferred images of about $99%$, which provides clear evidence for the successful transfer of information in the FWM process.

Physical Review A•Nov 22, 2022•12 citations

Diffraction manipulation by four-wave mixing

Itay Katzir, Amiram Ron, Ofer Firstenberg

We suggest a scheme to manipulate paraxial diffraction by utilizing the dependency of a four-wave mixing process on the relative angle between the light fields. A microscopic model for four-wave mixing in a Λ-type level structure is introduced and compared to recent experimental data. We show that images with feature size as low as 10 μm can propagate with very little or even negative diffraction. The mechanism is completely different from that conserving the shape of spatial solitons in nonlinear media, as here diffraction is suppressed for arbitrary spatial profiles. At the same time, the gain inherent to the nonlinear process prevents loss and allows for operating at high optical depths. Our scheme does not rely on atomic motion and is thus applicable to both gaseous and solid media.

arXiv:1401.3788•Optics Express•Mar 2, 2015•3 citations

Generation and manipulation of frequency-converted Airy vortex beam via atomic four-wave mixing

Sandan Wang, Jingyi Zhou, Xuewen Wang +5 more

Airy vortex beams, which integrate orbital angular momentum with diffraction-resistant and self-accelerating characteristics of Airy beams, offer unique capabilities for high-capacity optical communication and high-resolution imaging. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the generation and manipulation of frequency-converted Airy vortex beams through four-wave mixing in hot Rb vapor. A 780 nm vortex beam and a 776 nm two-dimensional Airy beam coherently participate in the four-wave mixing process, generating a 420 nm output beam that combines the orbital angular momentum of the vortex beam with the spatial structure of the Airy beam. The generated beam exhibits pronounced quasi-nondiffracting propagation and self-acceleration, with an intensity decay rate reduced by a factor of ∼1.88 relative to the input vortex beam and a transverse acceleration ∼1.84 times that of the input Airy beam. Moreover, both the intensity and the spatial profile of the generated beam are flexibly manipulated by varying the Rb vapor temperature and the pump beam power. This work provides a versatile approach for generating and controlling structured light at what we believe are new wavelengths, opening opportunities for short-wavelength optical manipulation and optical information processing.

Optics Express•Oct 5, 2026•0 citations
A setup to frequency-convert an arbitrary image encoded in the spatial profile of a probe field onto a signal field using four-wave mixing in a thermal atom vapor is proposed. The atomic motion is exploited to cancel diffraction of both signal and probe fields simultaneously. We show that an incoherent probe field can be used to enhance the transverse momentum bandwidth which can be propagated without diffraction, such that smaller structures with higher spatial resolution can be transmitted. It furthermore compensates linear absorption with nonlinear gain, to improve the four-wave mixing performance since the propagation dynamics of the various field intensities is favorably modified.
Abstract We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of non-diffracting optical modes via non-degenerate four-wave mixing(FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via afour-level double-Λ type atomic system to produce a new frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of probe field are efficiently transferred to FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of Stokes beam are identical to that of probe beam while phase profile is complimentary.The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about 99%, which substantiates the high efficiency of FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.
We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of nondiffracting optical modes via a nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via a four-level double-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ type atomic system to produce a low frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of the probe field are efficiently transferred to the FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase-matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of the Stokes beam are identical to that of the probe beam, while the phase profile is complementary. The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about 9999%99, which substantiates the high efficiency of the FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.
A scheme is proposed to achieve substantial controllable phase modulation for a probe field propagating through a thermal atomic vapor in double-$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ configuration. The phase modulation is based on manipulating the linear susceptibility of the probe field, paraxial diffraction is eliminated by exploiting the thermal motion of atoms, and residual absorption is compensated via an incoherent pump field. As a result of the homogeneous change in the refractive index, a strong controllable uniform phase modulation without paraxial diffraction is achieved essentially independent of the spatial profile or the intensity of the probe field. This phase shift can be controlled via the intensities of the control or the incoherent pump fields. A possible proof-of-principle experiment in alkali-metal atoms is discussed.
We propose a scheme to transfer the spatial intensity as well as phase information encoded initially in the spatial profile of a weak probe field onto a newly generated Stokes field in a nonlinear process of four-wave mixing (FWM). The FWM process is explored in a gaseous medium consisting of atoms modeled as a three-level system in the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ configuration. We found that different orders of Hermite-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian modes carried by a probe beam are effectively transferred to a Stokes beam. Interestingly, the transferred intensity of the Stokes beam is a clone of the probe beam, whereas the phase profile is conjugate to the probe. The phase distribution of the transmitted modes at the exit of the medium is explored by superimposing them on a copropagating plane wave. Moreover, the parametric amplification due to the nonlinear process of FWM prevents any information loss due to linear absorption and permits us to work at high optical depths. We found a structural similarity between transferred images of about 9999%99, which provides clear evidence for the successful transfer of information in the FWM process.
We suggest a scheme to manipulate paraxial diffraction by utilizing the dependency of a four-wave mixing process on the relative angle between the light fields. A microscopic model for four-wave mixing in a Λ-type level structure is introduced and compared to recent experimental data. We show that images with feature size as low as 10 μm can propagate with very little or even negative diffraction. The mechanism is completely different from that conserving the shape of spatial solitons in nonlinear media, as here diffraction is suppressed for arbitrary spatial profiles. At the same time, the gain inherent to the nonlinear process prevents loss and allows for operating at high optical depths. Our scheme does not rely on atomic motion and is thus applicable to both gaseous and solid media.
Airy vortex beams, which integrate orbital angular momentum with diffraction-resistant and self-accelerating characteristics of Airy beams, offer unique capabilities for high-capacity optical communication and high-resolution imaging. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the generation and manipulation of frequency-converted Airy vortex beams through four-wave mixing in hot Rb vapor. A 780 nm vortex beam and a 776 nm two-dimensional Airy beam coherently participate in the four-wave mixing process, generating a 420 nm output beam that combines the orbital angular momentum of the vortex beam with the spatial structure of the Airy beam. The generated beam exhibits pronounced quasi-nondiffracting propagation and self-acceleration, with an intensity decay rate reduced by a factor of ∼1.88 relative to the input vortex beam and a transverse acceleration ∼1.84 times that of the input Airy beam. Moreover, both the intensity and the spatial profile of the generated beam are flexibly manipulated by varying the Rb vapor temperature and the pump beam power. This work provides a versatile approach for generating and controlling structured light at what we believe are new wavelengths, opening opportunities for short-wavelength optical manipulation and optical information processing.