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Physical Review Letters

Lasing without Inversion: Counterintuitive Population Dynamics in the Transient Regime

S. Ya. Kilin, Kishore T. Kapale, Marlan O. Scully

Published Apr 29, 2008• 50 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We explore a three-level Lambda scheme to demonstrate that the phenomenon of lasing without inversion (LWI) can be observed in the transient regime. We demonstrate that the pure LWI contribution to the gain of a probe field is distinct from both the resonant absorption (or gain) and the coherent Raman gain (or absorption) by choosing specific initial populations in the dressed-state basis. The suppression of the non-LWI (resonant and Raman) processes is followed by the "rich get richer" (capitalistic) effect for the ground-state population dynamics: Initially, the more populated ground state becomes even more populated. The conditions for the observation of the effect are specified.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.100.173601

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We explore a three-level Lambda scheme to demonstrate that the phenomenon of lasing without inversion (LWI) can be observed in the transient regime. We demonstrate that the pure LWI contribution to the gain of a probe field is distinct from both the resonant absorption (or gain) and the coherent Raman gain (or absorption) by choosing specific initial populations in the dressed-state basis. The suppression of the non-LWI (resonant and Raman) processes is followed by the "rich get richer" (capitalistic) effect for the ground-state population dynamics: Initially, the more populated ground state becomes even more populated. The conditions for the observation of the effect are specified.
We analyze transient properties of light amplification without population inversion (LWI) in a closed three-level @sV -type system and study the system evolution from transient LWI into steady-state LWI. From the time evolution of the atomic coherence and population distribution with and without an incoherent pump field, we elucidate the light amplification mechanism and derive the conditions under which the @sV system exhibits LWI in any state basis. We derive analytical solution for the steady-state LWI and discuss other mechanisms of light amplification such as stimulated Raman scattering and population inversion in the dressed states. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Summary form only given.It was shown recently that in the double-/spl Lambda/ scheme both cw and self-pulsing regimes can occur, and it is possible to move from one to another regime just by changing the intensity of the driving field or Q factor of the cavity. Although convincing lasing without inversion (LWI) was not achieved, lasing was realized essentially below the conventional threshold and inversionless gain was obtained. It is known that in general two different mechanisms of LWI appear and interfere each other in this scheme. The first mechanism is based on the phenomenon of the coherent population trapping and is connected to an excitation of the low-frequency coherence between two levels of the ground atomic state by bichromatic driving field. The second mechanism represents itself as a kind of resonant anti-Stokes Raman scattering of the driving-field into the lasing field and is associated with the low-frequency coherence induced between two levels of the excited atomic state. The main goal of this paper is to study the role, contribution, and interplay of these two mechanisms into the dynamical behavior of LWI. We study it both analytically and numerically on the basis of the corresponding set of the Maxwell-Bloch equations in the case of resonant driving.
In standard lasers, light amplification requires population inversion between an upper and a lower state to break the reciprocity between absorption and stimulated emission. However, in a medium prepared in a specific superposition state, quantum interference may fully suppress absorption while leaving stimulated emission intact, opening the possibility of lasing without inversion (LWI) [1] . Conventional LWI schemes generally strive to maintain a specific phase relationship between the lower-lying states that carry most of the population. We present a scheme [2] , [3] , that does not follow this tradition. It uses only the natural dynamics of a multi-level quantum system and requires no coherence between the excited and the lower electronic states; effectively, LWI comes "for free".
A dressed-state study of lasing without population inversion from a three-level atom interacting with a bi-chromatic laser field in the ladder configuration is presented. In our model we allow the atom to be dressed by both of the coupling and probe fields. The system under consideration is explored both analytically and numerically within the steady-state regime. A parameter study is performed in which we explore the influence of the change of control parameters (Rabi frequencies and incoherent pump rates, etc) on the system behaviour. The parameter study also applies to situations where both coherent fields have comparable intensities. Expressions for steady-state populations and coherences are derived, from which the constraints on the system control parameters allowing gain or absorption of various types, are calculated. The system is demonstrated to possess gain without inversion (GWI), as well as regular gain with inversion, for the appropriate choice of system control parameters. Inversion without lasing (IWL) is also found. The dressed-state approach offers a different insight into the system dynamics in which Rabi oscillations and spectral features appear natural. We believe that the dressed-state approach provides a more adequate description of the system dynamics than that provided by the bare state basis.
A dressed-state study of lasing without population inversion from a three-level atom interacting with a bichromatic laser field in the ladder configuration is being formulated. The system is allowed to be dressed by both laser-field photons (double dressing). The temporal behavior of the system under consideration is being explored numerically. Although the use of dressed-basis density matrix equations introduces major complexity into the equations, this procedure has crucial importance to the understanding of the atomic spectrum and the underlying physics of the processes involved. The system is found to possess a gain without population inversion, as well as a regular gain with inversion for various transitions, both in the transient and steady-state regimes. Enhancement of the refractive index accompanied by vanishingly small absorption was also found. The frequency response of various transitions is explored via numerical Fourier analysis. Some transitions are found to exhibit a dispersion-like line shape, clear evidence of a quantum-coherent interference effect. The spectrum consists of two distinct quintets centered about the coupling and probe-laser frequencies. The spectral features consisting of each quintet are located symmetrically (at resonance conditions only) around the line center at positions shifted from the center by the generalized Rabi and double Rabi frequencies.
Lasing without inversion (LWI) in specific models of closed three-level systems is analyzed in terms of nonlinear dynamics. From a linear stability analysis of the trivial nonlasing solution of the homogeneously broadened systems with on-resonance driving and laser fields, we find that, near lasing threshold, resonant closed Λ and V schemes yield continuous-wave LWI while resonant cascade schemes can give rise to self-pulsing LWI. The origin of this different behavior is discussed. For parameters of a real cascade system in atomic 138Ba we check numerically that the self-pulsing solution is stable in a broad range of nonzero detunings. It is shown that the self-pulsing emission can still be observed when the typical residual Doppler broadening of an atomic beam is taken into account.