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

Applied Physics Letters

Conversion of cw light into a train of subnanosecond pulses using frequency modulation and the dispersion of a near-resonant atomic vapor

John E. Bjorkholm, E. H. Turner, D. B. Pearson

Published May 15, 1975• 56 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Sinusoidally frequency-modulated cw laser light is converted into a train of repetitive short pulses by passing it through a nearly resonant atomic vapor. Using a 200-MHz modulation frequency and sodium vapor, pulses as short as 240 psec, having peak powers of 6.3 times the input power, have been obtained at 5890 Å. Calculation and experiment are in good agreement.

DOI
10.1063/1.87993

Related papers

Passive pulse train generation from a frequency modulated diode laser

J. Menders, Kyunam Choi, Eric J. Korevaar

By sweeping the frequency of a diode laser beam near the cesium resonance frequency, followed by propagation through a short length of cesium vapor, we obtained periodic peaks with peak-to-average ratios near 5 at pulse repetition rates up to a gigahertz. Light in the wings of a strong atomic absorption line of an alkali metal vapor encounters large group velocity dispersion. A frequency modulation in an off-resonance cw beam passing through the vapor consequently develops an amplitude modulation. For certain combinations of laser and vapor parameters, a sinusoidally frequency modulated beam can be made to develop peaks. We generated pulse trains in a frequency modulated single mode diode laser tuned to the cesium absorption line near 852 nm, which we observed by using a fast p-i-n photodiode and a sampling oscilloscope. The frequency of a diode laser was sinusoidally modulated with a sweep of about a gigahertz and a period of a few nansoseconds by introducing a small modulation into the laser pump current. We observed the formation of sharp peaks with a width of about one-tenth of the modulation period and a peak-to-background ratio of approximately 5.

Annual Meeting Optical Society of America•Jan 1, 1992•0 citations

Temporal compression of light

J. Keith Wigmore, D. Grischkowsky

The 5890 Å output from a CW dye laser was converted into a train of 0.5 ns pulses by frequency modulation and passage through a near-resonant atomic vapor delay line of Na. The theory of the process is discussed in both the time and frequency domains. Using a modulation index of 120 at a frequency of 17.8 MHz, we obtained values for the temporal compression ratio and intensity enhancement of 112 and 14, easily the largest that have been reported.

IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics•Apr 1, 1978•51 citations

Use of a resonant atomic dispersion to convert frequency modulated CW light into a train of subnanosecond pulses

John E. Bjorkholm, E. H. Turner, D. B. Pearson

IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics•Sep 1, 1975•0 citations

Temporal compression of cw diode-laser output into short pulses with cesium-vapor group-velocity dispersion

Kyunam Choi, J. Menders, David Ross +1 more

Using a technique similar to chirped pulse compression, we have compressed the 50-mW cw output of a diode laser into pulses of greater than 500-mW peak power and less than 400-ps duration. By applying a small current modulation to the diode, we induced a small wavelength modulation in the vicinity of the 6s(1/2)-to-6p(3/2) cesium resonance transition at 852 nm. Group-velocity dispersion on propagation through a cesium vapor cell then led to pulse compression. We developed a simple model to make predictions of output pulse shapes by using different modulation waveforms.

Optics Letters•Nov 15, 1993•1 citation

Optical pulse compression

D. Grischkowsky

Dramatic and controllable reshaping of frequency-modulated dye laser pulses has been observed. The pulses, nearly resonant with the 2P1/2 line (7948 Å) of Rb, first passed through a LiNbO3 frequency modulator, and then through a cell containing dilute Rb vapor where the reshaping took place. Large pulse compressions were obtained with only 400 MHz of frequency modulation due to the extremely large frequency dispersion of the group velocity.

Applied Physics Letters•Nov 15, 1974•86 citations

Response of a two-level atom to a frequency-modulated optically coherent pulse train

James M. Supplee, Edward A. Whittaker, Keith Andrew

We present an analytical expression for the response of a two-level atom to a frequency-modulated optically coherent pulse train. The optical beam has sinusoidal frequency modulation and is chopped to have a square-wave envelope. We assume that the laser pulses are short compared with the atomic-decay time, the pulse-repetition time, and the modulation period. With this short-pulse assumption we are able to use a method similar to Temkin’s [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B10, 830–839 (1993)] and solve the optical Bloch equations in closed form.

Journal of the Optical Society of America B•Jul 1, 1998•2 citations
Sinusoidally frequency-modulated cw laser light is converted into a train of repetitive short pulses by passing it through a nearly resonant atomic vapor. Using a 200-MHz modulation frequency and sodium vapor, pulses as short as 240 psec, having peak powers of 6.3 times the input power, have been obtained at 5890 Å. Calculation and experiment are in good agreement.
By sweeping the frequency of a diode laser beam near the cesium resonance frequency, followed by propagation through a short length of cesium vapor, we obtained periodic peaks with peak-to-average ratios near 5 at pulse repetition rates up to a gigahertz. Light in the wings of a strong atomic absorption line of an alkali metal vapor encounters large group velocity dispersion. A frequency modulation in an off-resonance cw beam passing through the vapor consequently develops an amplitude modulation. For certain combinations of laser and vapor parameters, a sinusoidally frequency modulated beam can be made to develop peaks. We generated pulse trains in a frequency modulated single mode diode laser tuned to the cesium absorption line near 852 nm, which we observed by using a fast p-i-n photodiode and a sampling oscilloscope. The frequency of a diode laser was sinusoidally modulated with a sweep of about a gigahertz and a period of a few nansoseconds by introducing a small modulation into the laser pump current. We observed the formation of sharp peaks with a width of about one-tenth of the modulation period and a peak-to-background ratio of approximately 5.
Using a technique similar to chirped pulse compression, we have compressed the 50-mW cw output of a diode laser into pulses of greater than 500-mW peak power and less than 400-ps duration. By applying a small current modulation to the diode, we induced a small wavelength modulation in the vicinity of the 6s(1/2)-to-6p(3/2) cesium resonance transition at 852 nm. Group-velocity dispersion on propagation through a cesium vapor cell then led to pulse compression. We developed a simple model to make predictions of output pulse shapes by using different modulation waveforms.
We present an analytical expression for the response of a two-level atom to a frequency-modulated optically coherent pulse train. The optical beam has sinusoidal frequency modulation and is chopped to have a square-wave envelope. We assume that the laser pulses are short compared with the atomic-decay time, the pulse-repetition time, and the modulation period. With this short-pulse assumption we are able to use a method similar to Temkin’s [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B10, 830–839 (1993)] and solve the optical Bloch equations in closed form.