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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Self-oscillation in a cavity using a sodium vapor phase conjugate mirror

M. Pinard, E. Le Bihan, D. Grandclément, G. Grynberg

Published Feb 1, 1986• 0 citations
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Abstract

Self-oscillation of cavities closed by phase-conjugate mirrors has been observed with solids,1 liquids,2 and vapors.3 The case of vapors is particularly interesting because the nonlinearities are well known, and precise comparison between theory and experiments is possible. Furthermore, because of the huge nonlinearity close to a resonance transition, high reflectivities are obtained even with cw lasers.4 At last, the time response of the medium is expected to be of the order of the lifetime of the excited level.

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Nonfrequency-shifted self-pumped phase-conjugate mirror using sodium vapor

Marc Vallet, M. Pinard, G. Grynberg

An incident cw laser beam polarized along the y direction induces a four-wave mixing oscillation polarized along the x direction in a linear cavity containing a sodium cell. The interaction of the incident field with the standing wave induces the generation of a reflected field. Reflectivities of as much as 20% inside the cell and response times shorter than 100 ns have been observed.

Optics Letters•Jul 15, 1991•7 citations

Self-oscillations in a cavity bounded by a sodium-vapor phase-conjugate mirror pumped by two cross-polarized beams

E. Le Bihan, M. Pinard, G. Grynberg

We have observed self-oscillation in a linear cavity bounded by a sodium-vapor phase-conjugate mirror pumped by two cross-polarized beams. The oscillating beam polarization is analyzed along the directions of the pump polarizations, and different intensities are observed. The introduction of a quarter-wave plate inside the cavity permits the oscillation threshold to be lowered.

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Optical phase conjugation with a sodium Raman laser

Joanne DiFrancisco‐Donoghue, Jonathan S. Kane, Philip Hemmer

Recently, there has been increased interest in the use of resonant atomic systems for performing optical-wavefront conjugation. This interest has arisen because resonant systems are inherently fast, with response times in the nanosecond range. However, resonant systems tend to have lower efficiencies and greater optical power requirements than do photorefractive crystals, such as BaTiO3. In this paper, we explore the possibility of using a highly efficient Raman laser1 in a sodium-vapor cell to obtain efficient phase conjugation at greatly reduced optical power densities. In this demonstration we use a self-pumped (linear-cavity) conjugator for simplicity. With this setup, we have achieved phase- conjugate reflectivities of 2% with input powers of only 20 W/cm2. This is only 2% of the optical power density previously reported2 to obtain comparable reflectivity with a self-pumped scheme in sodium vapor.

Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference•May 12, 1991•0 citations

Study of cw self-oscillation using pair production of photons in four-wave mixing in sodium

D. Grandclément, G. Grynberg, M. Pinard

There is presently a growing interest in nearly degenerate four-wave mixing, both for application in optical phase conjugation and the generation of squeezed states. In particular, the self-oscillation of a system interacting with one or two pump beams has been investigated in great detail in the case of photorefractive materials, but very few experiments have been done in vapors in the cw regime. The results that we obtained using sodium are presented here. They are strikingly different from the results obtained with photorefractive materials. For example, the oscillating beam and pump beam frequencies coincide with a precision better than 10−2 Hz. Another interesting aspect of this oscillating beam is that it exhibits a phase sensitive noise: just above threshold, the noise on one quadrature of the field can be 10−2 times smaller than the noise on the other quadrature.

•Apr 26, 1987•0 citations

Observation of self-oscillation in ring cavities with sodium vapor phase conjugate mirrors

E. Le Bihan, Philippe Verkerk, M. Pinard +1 more

Optics Communications•Dec 1, 1985•13 citations

Continuous-wave self-pumped optical phase conjugation in atomic sodium vapor

Celestino J. Gaeta, Jenny Lam, Richard C. Lind

Self-pumped optical phase conjugation has been demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge in a resonant atomic system. This process was implemented by using a single cw pump beam to excite a sodium-vapor oscillator. The counterpropagating optical fields inside this oscillator then combine with the pump beam in an internal fourwave-mixing interaction to yield the phase conjugate of the incident (pump) beam.

Optics Letters•Feb 15, 1989•22 citations
Self-oscillation of cavities closed by phase-conjugate mirrors has been observed with solids,1 liquids,2 and vapors.3 The case of vapors is particularly interesting because the nonlinearities are well known, and precise comparison between theory and experiments is possible. Furthermore, because of the huge nonlinearity close to a resonance transition, high reflectivities are obtained even with cw lasers.4 At last, the time response of the medium is expected to be of the order of the lifetime of the excited level.
Recently, there has been increased interest in the use of resonant atomic systems for performing optical-wavefront conjugation. This interest has arisen because resonant systems are inherently fast, with response times in the nanosecond range. However, resonant systems tend to have lower efficiencies and greater optical power requirements than do photorefractive crystals, such as BaTiO3. In this paper, we explore the possibility of using a highly efficient Raman laser1 in a sodium-vapor cell to obtain efficient phase conjugation at greatly reduced optical power densities. In this demonstration we use a self-pumped (linear-cavity) conjugator for simplicity. With this setup, we have achieved phase- conjugate reflectivities of 2% with input powers of only 20 W/cm2. This is only 2% of the optical power density previously reported2 to obtain comparable reflectivity with a self-pumped scheme in sodium vapor.
There is presently a growing interest in nearly degenerate four-wave mixing, both for application in optical phase conjugation and the generation of squeezed states. In particular, the self-oscillation of a system interacting with one or two pump beams has been investigated in great detail in the case of photorefractive materials, but very few experiments have been done in vapors in the cw regime. The results that we obtained using sodium are presented here. They are strikingly different from the results obtained with photorefractive materials. For example, the oscillating beam and pump beam frequencies coincide with a precision better than 10−2 Hz. Another interesting aspect of this oscillating beam is that it exhibits a phase sensitive noise: just above threshold, the noise on one quadrature of the field can be 10−2 times smaller than the noise on the other quadrature.