Journal of Physics B Atomic and Molecular Physics

Absorption spectrum of a strongly driven atom

S Yeh

Published Sep 28, 1982• 6 citations

Abstract

The absorption spectrum of a weak probe radiation by a two-level atom strongly driven by an intense radiation field is examined. Using a Green's function method developed for calculations of general multiphoton processes, the author obtains some earlier results in which the spectrum has regions (in the probe frequency domain) of amplification and regions of attenuation. Such a spectrum is shown explicitly to be due to a coherent interference effect arising from the interaction of the atom with the vacuum field. Furthermore, an equation that relates the area under the amplification part of the spectrum to that under the attenuation part is obtained. This indicates that amplification cannot occur if a very-wide-band probe beam is used instead of a narrow-band one. At high driving intensities the absorption spectrum is shown explicitly to be inversely proportional to the Rabi frequency and has a dispersion-like behaviour near the Rabi sidebands at driving resonance.

DOI: 10.1088/0022-3700/15/18/018

Related papers

Asymmetric probe-absorption spectrum and amplification without population inversion in a squeezed vacuum

Z. Ficek, William Smyth, S. Swain

A comprehensive study is made of the absorption spectrum of a weak-probe beam irradiating a two-level atom damped by a broadband squeezed vacuum and driven by a strong laser field. We show that for a resonant driving field whose phase does not coincide with the principal directions of the squeezing ellipse, the absorption spectrum is asymmetric and exhibits absorption-emission profiles at the Rabi sidebands. We find that this feature arises from unequal populations of the dressed states of the system, which occur when all components of the Bloch vector are coupled to the driving field. A symmetric spectrum with dispersionlike profiles at the Rabi sidebands is revealed for an off-resonant driving field. Furthermore, the spectrum may exhibit an emission profile at the central frequency, signifying an amplification of the probe beam. We point out that the amplification at the central component is not attributed to population inversion in both the atomic bare states and in the dressed atomic states. We find that the amplification originates from the coherent population oscillations and is impossible in the absence of the squeezed vacuum. In addition, we examine how these features are affected by the detuning of the driving field and an imperfect squeezed vacuum.

Physical Review ANov 1, 199531 citations

Absorption spectrum of a strongly driven atom in a detuned squeezed vacuum

M. Bosticky, Z. Ficek, Bryan J. Dalton

We present numerical and analytical results for the Mollow probe absorption spectrum of a coherently driven two-level system in a narrow bandwidth squeezed vacuum field. The spectra are calculated for the case where the Rabi frequency of the driving field is much larger than the natural linewidth and the squeezed vacuum carrier frequency is detuned from the driving laser frequency. The driving laser is on resonance. We show that in a detuned squeezed vacuum the standard Mollow features are each split into triplets. The central components of each triplet are weakly dependent on the squeezing phase but the sidebands strongly depend on the phase and can have dispersive or absorptive/emissive profiles. We also derive approximate analytical expressions for the spectral features and find that the multi-peak structure of the spectrum can be interpreted either via the eigenfrequencies of a generalized Floquet Hamiltonian or in terms of three-photon transitions between dressed states involving a probe field photon and a correlated photon pair from the squeezed vacuum field.

Journal of Optics B Quantum and Semiclassical OpticsAug 1, 19991 citation

Strong amplification of sidebands in a strongly driven three-level atomic system

Constantine Mavroyannis

We have considered the excitation spectra for a three-level atom interacting simultaneously with a strong pump field and a weak signal field. The atom consists of an upper excited state ‖2〉 and two lower states ‖1〉 and ‖3〉 where the transition ‖1〉↔‖3〉 is electric-dipole forbidden from parity considerations. The pump field, whose frequency mode ωb is initially populated, operates near resonance between the states ‖2〉 and ‖3〉, ‖2〉↔‖3〉, while the signal field describes the radiative decays ‖2〉→‖3〉 and ‖2〉→‖1〉, respectively. Using the Green function method, the spectral functions for the signal field have been calculated in the limit of high photon densities of the pump field describing the following processes: (i) one-photon process; the spectra consist of a main peak at the signal frequency ω=ω21 and a pair of sidebands at ω=ω21±Ω−(ω23−ωb)/2, where Ω2=Ω2b/2+(ω23−ωb)2/4 with Ωb and (ω23−ωb) being the Rabi frequency and the detuning of the pump field, respectively. The intensity of the main peak at ω=ω21 is positive indicating signal-field absorption while those of the sidebands are always negative implying amplification (stimulated emission) of the signal field. The sum of the intensities (in absolute value) of the sidebands is twice that of the main peak at resonance while in the off-resonance case it depends on the value of the ratio (ω23−ωb)/2Ω. (ii) Stimulated three-photon process; the spectra consists of a pair of sidebands peaked at ω=ω21−2ωb±Ω−(ω23−ωb)/2 whose intensity is negative indicating amplification. At resonance the sidebands have equal intensities but at finite detuning asymmetry arises enhancing one peak while diminishing the intensity of the other. (iii) Stimulated two-photon process; the stimulated Raman spectra consist of a peak at ω=ω31, which has a delta function distribution, and a pair of strongly amplified sidebands at ω=ω31±Ω+(ω23−ωb)/2. The computed spectra for the three processes are presented graphically for different values of Rabi frequencies and detunings.

Journal of Mathematical PhysicsMay 1, 19857 citations

Resonance-fluorescence and absorption spectra of a two-level atom driven by a strong bichromatic field

Z. Ficek, Helen S. Freedhoff

We examine the radiative properties of a two-level atom driven by a strong bichromatic field with frequencies ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{1}$=${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{0}$-${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}_{1}$ and ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{2}$=${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{0}$+${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}_{2}$, which can be asymmetrically placed about the atomic transition frequency ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{0}$ and can have different Rabi frequencies ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{1}$ and ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{2}$. Applying the optical Bloch equations for the bichromatic excitation, we derive an infinite set of equations of motion for the time evolution of the atomic variables. The equations are solved numerically by matrix inversion and Laplace transforms. Using the quantum regression theorem, we then solve for the steady-state total fluorescence intensity, and the resonance-fluorescence and absorption spectra. The spectra are found to depend on the frequency difference 2\ensuremath{\delta}=${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}_{1}$+${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}_{2}$, the average detuning \ensuremath{\Delta}=${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{0}$-1/2(${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{1}$+${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{2}$), and the Rabi frequencies of the driving fields. For ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{1}$=${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{2}$=\ensuremath{\Omega}, the total fluorescent intensity displays a series of maxima for \ensuremath{\Delta}=\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}n\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\mp}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}^{2}$/4\ensuremath{\delta}, where the n are the odd integers. The intensity-dependent shift from the resonances n\ensuremath{\delta} is explained as an analog of the generalized Bloch-Siegert shift. The resonance-fluorescence spectrum for \ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\ne}0 appears to contain more peaks than that for \ensuremath{\Delta}=0.This is due to the splitting of the central peak and the even sidebands into doublets. The absorption spectrum of a weak-probe beam for \ensuremath{\Delta}=0 and equal Rabi frequencies consists of a symmetric series of dispersionlike sidebands separated from ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{0}$ by integer multiples of \ensuremath{\delta}, together with a central absorption peak at ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{0}$, whose amplitude oscillates with \ensuremath{\Omega}. For \ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\ne}0 and/or ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{1}$\ensuremath{\ne}${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{2}$, the odd sidebands remain dispersionlike, while the central peak and the even sidebands split into absorption-emission doublets. A simple physical interpretation of the spectral features is given in terms of the dressed-atom model.

Physical Review AOct 1, 1993110 citations

Induced gain and modified absorption of a weak probe beam in a strongly driven sodium vapor

Mark T. Gruneisen, Kenneth R. MacDonald, Robert W. Boyd

We present the results of an experimental and theoretical study of the gain (or absorption) experienced by a weak probe beam propagating through a sodium vapor in the presence of an intense pump field that is nearly resonant with the 3s → 3p atomic transition. The probe-transmission spectrum includes three distinct features that result from the modification of the atomic-level structure by the ac-Stark effect. Two of these features can lead to amplification of the probe wave. We measured the dependence of the probe spectrum on the detuning of the pump beam from resonance and on the pressure of a helium buffer gas. The experimentally obtained spectra are in good agreement with the predictions of a theoretical model based on the solution of the density-matrix equations of motion for a two-level atom and including the effects of Doppler broadening. The maximum gain measured in these experiments occurs at one of the Rabi sidebands and leads to a 38-fold increase in the intensity of the probe wave. Under some experimental conditions, we also observed two additional resonances, which are due to stimulated Raman scattering involving the sodium ground-state hyperfine levels.

Journal of the Optical Society of America BJan 1, 1988108 citations

Spontaneous emission and absorption properties of a driven three-level system

Lorenzo M. Narducci, Marlan O. Scully, Gian‐Luca Oppo +2 more

We investigate the steady-state spontaneous emission spectrum of a three-level atom driven by two coherent fields and the absorption spectrum of a weak probe passing through a collection of such driven atoms. We find that the fluorescence spectrum is strongly affected by the decay rates of all the levels involved in the atomic evolution and not just by the decay parameters of the specific transition whose emission spectrum is being monitored. In particular, the spectral components can acquire very different widths and peak heights relative to the case of the standard resonance fluorescence in which a two-level system is driven by a single near-resonant field. An external probe signal passing through the gas of three-level atoms may be absorbed or amplified, as in the standard two-level case, but under specific operating conditions, amplification (or absorption) occurs over the entire range where the atomic response is appreciable. In this case the existence of amplification or absorption is controlled solely by the population difference between two dressed states of the system. We provide numerical results in support of our arguments for arbitrary values of the atomic and field parameters and also develop an analytic description in the limit of strong driving fields that leads to explicit line-shape and linewidth formulas.

Physical Review AAug 1, 1990284 citations