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Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical Optics

Quantum interference and slow light propagation in cold samples of open three-level atoms

Elena Cerboneschi, Ferruccio Renzoni, E. Arimondo

Published Aug 1, 2002• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the propagation of a probe laser pulse through a cold sample of three-level atoms in the presence of a strong coupling field. Our numerical analysis shows that the electromagnetically induced transparency phenomenon produces very small group velocities for the probe pulse even if the three-level atomic system is open, i.e. in the presence of decay channels to levels not excited by the laser radiation. The role of the atomic momentum on the slow light propagation is briefly discussed.

DOI
10.1088/1464-4266/4/4/303

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The appearance of quantum interference in the microscopic world is one of the deepest mysteries at the very root of quantum mechanics. When light interacts with atoms, it can induce transitions by way of distinct but indistinguishable pathways and yield unexpected and often counter-intuitive results. Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), Coherent Population Trapping (CPT), and Lasing Without Inversion (LWI) are modern examples of phenomena where the traditional rules that govern absorption and dispersion undergo major revisions. Spectacular consequences of this new state of affairs include the ability of a light beam to propagate through a normally absorbing medium with little or no absorption, or to undergo amplification even if the active medium is not prepared in a state of population inversion. Light signals have been shown to travel with strongly subluminal group velocities of only a handful of meters per second and, even, to propagate at speed greater than the ordinary speed of light, but without violation of causality or of the established rules that control the transfer of optical information through space. Three-level atoms can interact with two coherent electromagnetic fields according to three different systems, known as Cascade, Lambda and Vee systems. The propagation of a weak probe field can be deeply affected by the presence of a second stronger beam, the so-called coupling field. Transparency windows, splitting of emission and absorption lines and enormously enhanced dispersion have been documented in numerous experiments. In this thesis we explore the physical origin of the transparency induced in these systems by the simultaneous interplay of the coupling and probe fields. We focus our attention on the Cascade system and study its two configurations, Cascade-EIT and Cascade-AT. We develop a variety of complementary approaches for the description of these two configurations, some semiclassical and others fully quantum mechanical. We prove the existence of quantum interference in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and also the surprising absence of interference in a closely related phenomenon, known as the Autler-Townes effect. Finally we complement the traditional machinery of theoretical quantum optics with techniques borrowed from quantum scattering theory, and offer what we believe is the most convincing physical evidence for the appearance, or for the absence, of quantum interference effects.

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We study the propagation dynamics of a single pair of probe and coupling laser pulses in a three-level cascade atomic medium by numerical solving the Maxwell-Bloch equations for atoms and fields. Influences of the pulse durations, intensity and pulse area of the coupling laser on the probe laser propagation are investigated. We found the conditions that the undistorted probe pulse in such i.e., the effect is established. Under conditions, the ground state population is trapped in a dark state. Full Text: PDF References A. Imamoglu, S.E. Harris, Lasers without inversion: interference of dressed lifetime-broadened states, Opt. Lett. 14 (1989) 1344. CrossRef K.J. Boller, A. Imamoglu, S.E. Harris, Observation of electromagnetically induced transparency, Phys. Rev. Lett. 66 (1991) 2593. CrossRef A.S. Zibrov, M.D. Lukin, D.E. Nikonov, L. Hollberg, M.O. Scully, V.L. Velichansky, and H.G. Robinson, Experimental Demonstration of Laser Oscillation without Population Inversion via Quantum Interference in Rb, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 (1995) 1499. CrossRef L.V. Hau, S. E. Harris, Z. Dutton, C.H. Bejroozi, speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold atomic gas, Nature, 397 (1999) 594. CrossRef L.V. Doai, D.X. Khoa, and N.H. Bang, EIT enhanced self-Kerr nonlinearity in the three-level lambda system under Doppler broadening, Phys. Scr. 90 (2015)045502. CrossRef D.X. Khoa, L.V. Doai, D.H. Son, and N.H. Bang, Enhancement of self-Kerr nonlinearity via electromagnetically induced transparency in a five-level cascade system: an analytical approach, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 31, N6 (2014), pp. 1330. CrossRef F.T. Hioe and R. Grobe, Matched Optical Solitary Waves for Three- and Five-Level Systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, (1994) 2559. CrossRef S.E. Harris and Z.F. Luo, Preparation energy for electromagnetically induced transparency, Phys. Rev. A. 52 (1995) R928. CrossRef V. G. Arkhipkin, I.V. Timofeev, Adiabatic propagation of short pulses under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency, Quantum Electronics, 30 (2000) 180. CrossRef M. Kiffner, T. N. Dey, Dynamical control of pulse propagation in electromagnetically induced transparency, Phys. Rev. A. 79 (2009) 023829. CrossRef R. Yu, J. Li, P. Huang, A. Zheng, X. Yang, Dynamic control of light propagation and optical switching through an RF-driven cascade-type atomic medium, Phys. Lett. A. 373 (2009) 2992. CrossRef E. Paspalakis,N. J. Kylstra and P. L. Knight, Propagation and nonlinear generation dynamics in a coherently prepared four-level system, Phys. Rev. A 65 (2002) 053808. CrossRef E. Ignesti, R. Buffa, L. Fini, E. Sali, M. V. Tognetti, S. Cavalieri, Controlling the propagation of broadband light pulses by Induced Transparency, Opt. Commun, 285 (2012) 1185. CrossRef P. R. Bermanand C. H. Raymond Ooi, Pulse propagation in a medium of ?-type atoms, Phys. Rev. A 86 (2012), 053812. CrossRef G. Buica, T. Nakajima, Propagation of two short laser pulse trains in a ?-type three-level medium under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency, Opt. Commun. 332 (2014) 59. CrossRef L. V. Doai, P. V. Trong, D. X. Khoa, and Ng. H. Bang, Electromagnetically induced transparency in five-level cascade scheme of 85Rb atoms: An analytical approach, Optik, 125 (2014) 3666?3669. CrossRef J.H. Eberly, Transmission of dressed fields in three-level media, Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 7 (1995) 373. CrossRef M.D. Crisp, Propagation of Small-Area Pulses of Coherent Light through a Resonant Medium, Phys. Rev. A 1 (1970) 1604. CrossRef

Photonics Letters of Poland•Sep 30, 2016•9 citations
We investigate theoretically the propagation of a probe laser pulse through a cold sample of three-level atoms in the presence of a strong coupling field. Our numerical analysis shows that the electromagnetically induced transparency phenomenon produces very small group velocities for the probe pulse even if the three-level atomic system is open, i.e. in the presence of decay channels to levels not excited by the laser radiation. The role of the atomic momentum on the slow light propagation is briefly discussed.
We investigate theoretically the slow group velocity of a pulse probe laser propagating through a cold sample and interacting with atoms in a three-level ΛΛΛ configuration having losses towards external states. The EIT phenomenon produces very small group velocities for the probe pulse in presence of a strong coupling field even in presence of the population losses, as in an open three-level system. The group velocity and the transmission of the pulses are examined numerically as functions of several parameters, the adiabatic transfer, the loss rate, the modification of the atomic velocity produced within the cold sample. The conditions for a more efficient pulse transmission through the cold atomic sample are specified.
We investigate the weak probe pulse propagation through the atomic medium, in the presence of the strong control laser field, under the regime of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). These fields couple to the medium by forming the 3-level ladder configuration. We focus on two distinct cases: closed system, which is a non-degenerate, and open system, where the middle level is 3-fold degenerate, and the additional levels are coupled to the other levels only via spontaneous emission. The spatio-temporal profile of the probe pulse envelope is obtained by using the formalism of Maxwell-Bloch equations with the help of the Fourier transform method. We study the influence of the control field Rabi frequency, the spectral half-width of the initial pulse and decay rates on the propagation of the probe pulse. Several important pulse parameters are also calculated and discussed. It is shown that the group velocity of light can be controlled in such a manner that one can switch from slow to fast light and vice versa when changing the control Rabi frequency and spectral pulse half-width. Moreover, the possibility of replacing the open with an effective closed system is also discussed.
For the known, experimentally realized conditions, the detailed analysis of the field-induced transparency and formation of exceptionally low group velocity of probe light is performed. The secondary fields being due to the atomic polarization induced by the two propagating light pulses - coupling (or dressing) and probe ones, resonant to the adjoining transitions in a three-level scheme, are explicitly taken into account. Partly linear (relative to the probe pulse field) and completely non-linear regimes are considered. Particularly, the outputting coupled wave is shown to be slightly amplified, when the probe light pulse “disappears” inside the medium.
We study the dispersion and absorption spectra of a weak probe in a $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type three-level atomic system with closely ground sublevels driven by a strong field and damped by a broadband squeezed vacuum. We analyze the interplay between the spontaneous generated coherence and the squeezed field on the susceptibility of the atomic system. We find that by varying the intensity of the squeezed field the group velocity of a weak pulse can change from subluminal to superluminal. In addition we exploit the fact that the properties of the atomic medium can be dramatically modified by controlling the relative phase between the driving field and the squeezed field, allowing us to manipulate the group velocity at which light propagates. The physical origin of this phenomenon corresponds to a transfer of the atomic coherence from electromagnetically induced transparency to electromagnetically induced absorption. Besides, this phenomenon is achieved under nearly transparency conditions and with negligible distortion of the propagation pulse.
The appearance of quantum interference in the microscopic world is one of the deepest mysteries at the very root of quantum mechanics. When light interacts with atoms, it can induce transitions by way of distinct but indistinguishable pathways and yield unexpected and often counter-intuitive results. Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), Coherent Population Trapping (CPT), and Lasing Without Inversion (LWI) are modern examples of phenomena where the traditional rules that govern absorption and dispersion undergo major revisions. Spectacular consequences of this new state of affairs include the ability of a light beam to propagate through a normally absorbing medium with little or no absorption, or to undergo amplification even if the active medium is not prepared in a state of population inversion. Light signals have been shown to travel with strongly subluminal group velocities of only a handful of meters per second and, even, to propagate at speed greater than the ordinary speed of light, but without violation of causality or of the established rules that control the transfer of optical information through space. Three-level atoms can interact with two coherent electromagnetic fields according to three different systems, known as Cascade, Lambda and Vee systems. The propagation of a weak probe field can be deeply affected by the presence of a second stronger beam, the so-called coupling field. Transparency windows, splitting of emission and absorption lines and enormously enhanced dispersion have been documented in numerous experiments. In this thesis we explore the physical origin of the transparency induced in these systems by the simultaneous interplay of the coupling and probe fields. We focus our attention on the Cascade system and study its two configurations, Cascade-EIT and Cascade-AT. We develop a variety of complementary approaches for the description of these two configurations, some semiclassical and others fully quantum mechanical. We prove the existence of quantum interference in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and also the surprising absence of interference in a closely related phenomenon, known as the Autler-Townes effect. Finally we complement the traditional machinery of theoretical quantum optics with techniques borrowed from quantum scattering theory, and offer what we believe is the most convincing physical evidence for the appearance, or for the absence, of quantum interference effects.
We study the propagation dynamics of a single pair of probe and coupling laser pulses in a three-level cascade atomic medium by numerical solving the Maxwell-Bloch equations for atoms and fields. Influences of the pulse durations, intensity and pulse area of the coupling laser on the probe laser propagation are investigated. We found the conditions that the undistorted probe pulse in such i.e., the effect is established. Under conditions, the ground state population is trapped in a dark state. Full Text: PDF References A. Imamoglu, S.E. Harris, Lasers without inversion: interference of dressed lifetime-broadened states, Opt. Lett. 14 (1989) 1344. CrossRef K.J. Boller, A. Imamoglu, S.E. Harris, Observation of electromagnetically induced transparency, Phys. Rev. Lett. 66 (1991) 2593. CrossRef A.S. Zibrov, M.D. Lukin, D.E. Nikonov, L. Hollberg, M.O. Scully, V.L. Velichansky, and H.G. Robinson, Experimental Demonstration of Laser Oscillation without Population Inversion via Quantum Interference in Rb, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 (1995) 1499. CrossRef L.V. Hau, S. E. Harris, Z. Dutton, C.H. Bejroozi, speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold atomic gas, Nature, 397 (1999) 594. CrossRef L.V. Doai, D.X. Khoa, and N.H. Bang, EIT enhanced self-Kerr nonlinearity in the three-level lambda system under Doppler broadening, Phys. Scr. 90 (2015)045502. CrossRef D.X. Khoa, L.V. Doai, D.H. Son, and N.H. Bang, Enhancement of self-Kerr nonlinearity via electromagnetically induced transparency in a five-level cascade system: an analytical approach, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 31, N6 (2014), pp. 1330. CrossRef F.T. Hioe and R. Grobe, Matched Optical Solitary Waves for Three- and Five-Level Systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, (1994) 2559. CrossRef S.E. Harris and Z.F. Luo, Preparation energy for electromagnetically induced transparency, Phys. Rev. A. 52 (1995) R928. CrossRef V. G. Arkhipkin, I.V. Timofeev, Adiabatic propagation of short pulses under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency, Quantum Electronics, 30 (2000) 180. CrossRef M. Kiffner, T. N. Dey, Dynamical control of pulse propagation in electromagnetically induced transparency, Phys. Rev. A. 79 (2009) 023829. CrossRef R. Yu, J. Li, P. Huang, A. Zheng, X. Yang, Dynamic control of light propagation and optical switching through an RF-driven cascade-type atomic medium, Phys. Lett. A. 373 (2009) 2992. CrossRef E. Paspalakis,N. J. Kylstra and P. L. Knight, Propagation and nonlinear generation dynamics in a coherently prepared four-level system, Phys. Rev. A 65 (2002) 053808. CrossRef E. Ignesti, R. Buffa, L. Fini, E. Sali, M. V. Tognetti, S. Cavalieri, Controlling the propagation of broadband light pulses by Induced Transparency, Opt. Commun, 285 (2012) 1185. CrossRef P. R. Bermanand C. H. Raymond Ooi, Pulse propagation in a medium of ?-type atoms, Phys. Rev. A 86 (2012), 053812. CrossRef G. Buica, T. Nakajima, Propagation of two short laser pulse trains in a ?-type three-level medium under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency, Opt. Commun. 332 (2014) 59. CrossRef L. V. Doai, P. V. Trong, D. X. Khoa, and Ng. H. Bang, Electromagnetically induced transparency in five-level cascade scheme of 85Rb atoms: An analytical approach, Optik, 125 (2014) 3666?3669. CrossRef J.H. Eberly, Transmission of dressed fields in three-level media, Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 7 (1995) 373. CrossRef M.D. Crisp, Propagation of Small-Area Pulses of Coherent Light through a Resonant Medium, Phys. Rev. A 1 (1970) 1604. CrossRef