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Physical Review A

Absorption spectra of two-level atoms interacting with a strong polychromatic pump field and an arbitrarily intense probe field

Tai Hyun Yoon, Myung Sai Chung, Hai-Woong Lee

Published Sep 1, 1999• 26 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A numerical method is introduced that solves the optical Bloch equations describing a two-level atom interacting with a strong polychromatic pump field with an equidistant spectrum and an arbitrarily intense monochromatic probe field. The method involves a transformation of the optical Bloch equations into a system of equations with time-independent coefficients at steady state via double harmonic expansion of the density-matrix elements, which is then solved by the method of matrix inversion. The solutions so obtained lead immediately to the determination of the polarization of the atomic medium and of the absorption and dispersion spectra. The method is applied to the case when the pump field is bichromatic and trichromatic, and the physical interpretation of the numerically computed spectra is given.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.60.2547

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Physical Review Letters•Sep 2, 1991•4 citations
A numerical method is introduced that solves the optical Bloch equations describing a two-level atom interacting with a strong polychromatic pump field with an equidistant spectrum and an arbitrarily intense monochromatic probe field. The method involves a transformation of the optical Bloch equations into a system of equations with time-independent coefficients at steady state via double harmonic expansion of the density-matrix elements, which is then solved by the method of matrix inversion. The solutions so obtained lead immediately to the determination of the polarization of the atomic medium and of the absorption and dispersion spectra. The method is applied to the case when the pump field is bichromatic and trichromatic, and the physical interpretation of the numerically computed spectra is given.
An analytic expression of the polarization induced by a polychromatic weak probe field in a two-level medium, driven by a strong polychromatic pumping field, is obtained. This expression allows one to obtain both the absorption and dispersion spectra at any frequency of a probe field. The numerically calculated graphs of the central-component probe-field absorption and dispersion spectra, depending on the pumping-field amplitude in the cases of the one-, two- three-, four-, and five-component pumping field, are presented. It is shown that when the probe-field detuning is close to the strong-field Rabi frequency, the absorption spectrum changes to the dispersionlike form, while the dispersion spectrum changes to the absorptionlike one.
We study the pump and probe absorption spectra, as a function of the probe detuning, in a degenerate two-level atomic system, for the case where the probe intensity is high enough to affect the pump absorption. The theory is valid for any ${F}_{g}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{F}_{e}$ alkali-metal transition interacting with an arbitrarily intense pump and probe (with general Rabi frequencies ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{1,2}$) which are perpendicularly polarized with either ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ or $\ensuremath{\pi}$ polarization. We have constructed a computer program that can calculate the spectra without requiring one to write out the Bloch equations explicitly. We show that, when the pump is ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ polarized and the probe $\ensuremath{\pi}$ polarized, or vice versa, the pump and probe absorptions depend on the Zeeman coherences between the nearest-neighboring ground or excited Zeeman sublevels, whereas when the pump is ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{+}$ polarized and the probe ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\ensuremath{-}}$ polarized, or vice versa, the Zeeman coherences that directly determine the absorption are between next-nearest neighbors. We report calculations of the pump and probe absorption spectra for the cycling ${F}_{g}=2\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{F}_{e}=3$ transition in the D2{D}_{2}D2​ line of 87Rb^{87}\text{R}\text{b}87Rb, interacting with a resonant ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{+}$-polarized pump and either a $\ensuremath{\pi}$- or a ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\ensuremath{-}}$- polarized probe. The probe and pump absorption spectra are analyzed by considering the contributions that derive from the individual ${m}_{g}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{m}_{e}$ transitions. We then show how these contributions depend on the ground- and excited-state populations and Zeeman coherences, and investigate the role played by transfer of coherence from the excited to the ground hyperfine state. We show that the pump and probe absorption spectra are mirror images of each other when ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{1}\ensuremath{\ge}{\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{2}>\ensuremath{\Gamma}$, and have the same behavior at line center and complementary behavior in the wings, when ${\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{1}\ensuremath{\ge}{\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{2}<\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ ($\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ is the rate of spontaneous decay from Fe{F}_{e}Fe​ to Fg{F}_{g}Fg​).
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.
Analytic solutions of the optical Bloch equations for a two-level atom interacting with a strong polychromatic field whose frequencies are symmetrically positioned with respect to the atomic frequency are used to obtain the polarization spectrum of the atom. The spectrum is found to consist of a series of discrete peaks or dips superimposed on the continuous part of the spectrum. Physical interpretation of resonances exhibited in the continuous part of the spectrum is given using a semiclassical dressed-atom approach.
A complete and detailed treatment of a three-level atom interacting with two near-resonant monochromatic fields is presented. It is assumed that the only damping mechanism is radiative damping, and that the atoms all have the same resonance frequencies, as is the case in an atomic beam. Detailed analytic solutions as well as numerical examples are determined from quantum-electrodynamic equations of motion. In addition, approximation techniques are presented which allow one to get accurate quantitative predictions for strong applied fields from simple rate-equation-like arguments. Absorption and emission spectra are determined, as are the transient and steady-state response of the atom. Two of the more interesting predictions are an emission spectrum containing up to seven components and a prediction of steady-state populations larger than 0.5 in the second excited state.
The interaction of a strong nearly resonant cw pump laser and a weak cw probe laser in a medium consisting of two-level atoms was studied by numerical integration of the Maxwell-Bloch equations. With propagation into the optically thick medium, the numerically calculated probe gain spectrum deviates substantially from one calculated by a four-wave-mixing formulation of coupled-wave theory with an undepleted pump. For probe frequencies inside the modified gain region, the laser field, initially in an unstable steady-state condition, evolves to a stable solution of the sine-Gordon equation.