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arXiv:2402.13413

Generation and control of population difference gratings in a three-level hydrogen atomic medium using half-cycle attosecond pulses

Rostislav M. Arkhipov, Mikhail V. Arkhipov, Nikolay N. Rosanov

Published Feb 20, 2024• 0 citations
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Abstract

Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can have many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper theoretically studies the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and dipole moments of the transitions) are close to those found in the hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonance transitions of the medium. In this case, the medium considered is an example of a spatiotemporal photonic crystal. The refractive index varies rapidly in space and time. The possibility of the use of such gratings as Bragg mirrors in ultrafast optics is discussed. The results obtained are of interest in two actively developing areas of modern optics - the physics of half-cycle pulses and space-time photonic crystals.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2402.13413

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Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can have many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper theoretically studies the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and dipole moments of the transitions) are close to those found in the hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonance transitions of the medium. In this case, the medium considered is an example of a spatiotemporal photonic crystal. The refractive index varies rapidly in space and time. The possibility of the use of such gratings as Bragg mirrors in ultrafast optics is discussed. The results obtained are of interest in two actively developing areas of modern optics - the physics of half-cycle pulses and space-time photonic crystals.
Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can find many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper studies theoretically the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and transition dipole moments) match those in a hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonant transitions in the medium. We also consider the superradiance of polarization waves and atomic gratings produced by half-cycle pulses.
In a fixed spectral range, single- and half-cycle electromagnetic pulses have the shortest duration. Half-cycle pulses are promising tools for ultrafast control of quantum systems. Previously, the possibility of using a sequence of single- and half-cycle attosecond pulses to generate and ultrafast control light-induced population difference gratings has been demonstrated. However, such studies have been carried out using different approximations. For example, when the medium is modelled in the two-level approximation. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of the system of Maxwell-Bloch equations, it is shown that it is possible to generate and control population gratings in a three-level medium without using the approximations used in previous studies. It is shown that taking into account the additional level of the medium does not lead to a violation of the effect of generating such gratings. This extends the applicability of previous results.
Abstract In a fixed spectral range, single- and half-cycle electromagnetic pulses have the shortest duration. Half-cycle pulses are promising tools for ultrafast control of quantum systems. Previously, the possibility of using a sequence of single- and half-cycle attosecond pulses to generate and ultrafast control light-induced population difference gratings has been demonstrated. However, such studies have been carried out using different approximations, such as the sudden perturbation theory and the two-level model for the resonant medium. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of constitutive equations for elements of the density matrix and wave equation it is shown that it is possible to generate and control population gratings in a three-level medium without using the approximation of sudden perturbations used in previous studies. It is shown that taking into account the additional level of the medium does not lead to a violation of the effect of generating such gratings. This extends the applicability of previous results.
Rapidly changing the refractive index of a medium in space and time (space-time photonic crystal, STPC) has been a challenging task. Such a rapid change can be achieved by carrier-wave Rabi flopping. We show that it can be realized when a train of half-cycle light pulses collide in a simple three-level atomic medium. We found the formation of Bragg microcavities and demonstrated their ultrafast control in this case. The proposed approach is a convenient way to control medium properties on the sub-cycle time scale. It is a demonstration of the formation of STPCs and their ultrafast control in a simple atomic medium, which has been a difficult task until now.
An optical Bragg-like microcavity can be formed when extremely short light pulses interacting coherently with the medium collide in the resonant medium. Here we present an analytical approach, based on the approximate solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, that reveals both the cavity formation and its control by the half-cycle pulses colliding in the medium. This approach allows the calculation of cavity properties in the weak-field regime without the need for complex numerical simulations. Beyond the approximate analytical solutions, our analytical results are confirmed by numerical simulations of the Maxwell-Bloch equations. Grating formation is also studied in the strong-field regime, where collisions of self-induced transparency half-cycle pulses occur. The results presented here reveal, to our knowledge, a new type of spatio-temporal photonic crystal in the form of micro-cavities in a simple atomic medium. The results obtained demonstrate the feasibility of attosecond optical switching in a simple atomic medium with half-cycle pulses.
This review highlights recent advances in the creation of atomic population gratings using multi-cycle and extremely short light pulses in a medium. The application of these structures in transient grating spectroscopy is discussed. Special attention is given to the formation of high-quality dynamic microcavities, a novel type of structure recently predicted by the authors, which arises from collisions of extremely short half-cycle pulses within a medium. The results demonstrate the potential for attosecond optical switching of matter states at petahertz frequencies, operating within extreme time scales of half a field oscillation cycle. These findings pave the way for groundbreaking applications in modern ultrafast optics, including petahertz-scale signal processing, attosecond coherent control, and the development of next-generation optical technologies operating at the fundamental limits of speed and precision.