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Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics

Light statistical dependence of saturated two-photon transitions

G. Alber, P. Zoller

Published Dec 14, 1980• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The light statistical dependence of stationary saturated two-photon transitions is discussed. While at low intensities, in comparison with light having a stable amplitude, Gaussian amplitude fluctuations of the exciting radiation are more effective in populating the excited resonant state, light with amplitude fluctuations is less effective in saturating a two-photon transition. The amplitude fluctuations are shown to wash out the resonance curves. While at low intensities the effective Stark shift (i.e. the maximum of the dispersion curve) is larger by a factor of three in light with Gaussian amplitude fluctuations compared with radiation of constant amplitude, this enhancement factor becomes intensity dependent with increasing intensity.

DOI
10.1088/0022-3700/13/23/014

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The Journal of Chemical Physics•Nov 11, 2004•1 citation
The light statistical dependence of stationary saturated two-photon transitions is discussed. While at low intensities, in comparison with light having a stable amplitude, Gaussian amplitude fluctuations of the exciting radiation are more effective in populating the excited resonant state, light with amplitude fluctuations is less effective in saturating a two-photon transition. The amplitude fluctuations are shown to wash out the resonance curves. While at low intensities the effective Stark shift (i.e. the maximum of the dispersion curve) is larger by a factor of three in light with Gaussian amplitude fluctuations compared with radiation of constant amplitude, this enhancement factor becomes intensity dependent with increasing intensity.
Presents a theoretical analysis of the effect of laser light statistics on two-photon resonant three-photon ionisation of sodium. The ionisation probability and the population of the atom in the resonant state are compared in the presence of an intensity stabilised laser with a diffusing phase (phase diffusion model) and light undergoing Gaussian amplitude fluctuations (chaotic field). In the limit of large bandwidth fields the resonant two-photon excitation is statistically decoupled from the following ionisation step. A decrease of the bandwidth results in a partial correlation between these two steps manifesting itself in an enhancement of the ionisation probability in the chaotic field. With increasing intensity and the onset of saturation of the bound-bound transition, the ionisation probability and resonant excited-state population in the chaotic field may become smaller than the one in the phase diffusing light. In the large-bandwidth limit the Stark shift in the chaotic field is enhanced, which has a pronounced effect on the effective power-law dependence of the ionisation probability.
The effects of amplitude and phase fluctuations of the pump laser on the resonance fluorescence under two-photon resonant excitation are studied. The averaging of the stochastic Bloch equations is carried out within the approximation scheme that has recently been applied to the case of one-photon resonant excitation. In the case of two-photon resonant excitation the stochastic pump field gives rise to multiplicative nonlinear Gaussian fluctuation effects. The phase fluctuations are treated in the phase-diffusion model, and the averaging over the amplitude fluctuations is performed by means of generating-function methods. Both the intensity and the intensity correlation of the fluorescent light are studied. When the amplitude fluctuations are weak, the cases of one- and two-photon resonant excitations are similar. The difference between both cases consists of a modification of the Rabi frequency and a faster damping of the Rabi oscillations in the two-photon case. For sufficiently fast correlation decay of the amplitude fluctuations their effect can simply be described by a rate. In the general case of n-photon resonant excitation this rate is larger by a factor of n2{n}^{2}n2 than that in the case of one-photon resonant excitation. When the amplitude fluctuations are sufficiently strong, the Rabi oscillations are ``washed out.'' In the case of one-photon resonant excitation both the intensity and the intensity correlation function of the scattered light develop into step functions over time. In the two-photon case the dynamics of both quantities is determined by a new time constant which acts as both the oscillation time and the damping time. Consequently an overshoot peak occurs in both the intensity and the intensity correlation instead of the tendency to become step functions.
We have investigated the ac Stark shift of a two-photon transition induced by a model stochastic field by using a Monte Carlo technique. The model field has a stochastic single mode, which can possess both colored amplitude and colored frequency fluctuations. The stochastic field’s modification of the ac Stark shift is quantified by a parameter M, which is the ratio of the Stark shift in the model stochastic field to the Stark shift that would be obtained in a phase-diffusion field of equivalent linewidth (i.e., a field with frequency fluctuations but no amplitude fluctuations). In the regime of weak fields, below saturation of the bound-bound transition, we find that M is greater than unity: the Stark shift is enhanced by the stochastic field. Moreover, in this regime M is an increasing function of the field’s degree of photon bunching. In strong fields, where the bound–bound transition is nearly saturated, the enhancement of the Stark shift is diminished, so much so that in extremely strong fields M is actually less than unity. Our calculations indicate that the ac Stark shift’s modification occurs through two distinct processes, depending on the strength of the field. In weak fields enhancement of a multiphoton transition’s Stark shift is influenced primarily by the intrinsic correlation between ac-Stark-shift fluctuations and Rabi-frequency fluctuations. In strong fields the fluctuating Stark shifts give rise to an asymmetric resonance line shape in a fashion analogous to inhomogeneous broadening. The line shape’s peak position then has a sublinear dependence on the stochastic field’s intensity, and this yields a diminished value of M.
We describe the influence of the intensity variation of the light in a standing wave on the lineshape of a Doppler-free multi-photon transition. We show that as long as the light shifts and the saturation are small compared to the Doppler width, a motional narrowing effect occurs and the line remains Lorentzian, the centre being shifted by an amount equal to the mean value of the dynamic Stark effect. We consider also the case of transients. We show that at resonance, it is possible to observe different responses according to the light intensity. In particular, it is possible to observe Rabi oscillations only if the Rabi frequency is larger than the natural width and smaller than the Doppler width of the transition.
The physics of the two-photon absorption process is investigated for a three-state system. The density-matrix equations for the two-photon interaction are solved in the steady-state limit assuming that the pump laser radiation is monochromatic. Collisional broadening, saturation, and Stark shifting of the two-photon resonance are investigated in detail by numerical solution of the steady-state density-matrix equations. Analytical expressions for the saturation intensity and the Stark shift are derived for the case where the single-photon transitions between the intermediate state and the initial and final states are far from resonance with the pump laser. For this case, it is found that the direction of the Stark shift is dependent on the relative magnitudes of the dipole-moment matrix elements for the single-photon transitions that couple the intermediate state with the initial and final states. Saturation and Stark shifting are also investigated for the case where the single-photon transitions between the intermediate state and the initial and final states are close to resonance with the pump laser.