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Physical Review Letters

Efficient Nonlinear Frequency Conversion in an All-Resonant Double- Λ System

Andrew J. Merriam, Scott J. Sharpe, Miro Y. Shverdin, D. Manuszak, G. Y. Yin, Stephen E. Harris

Published Jun 5, 2000• 171 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate efficient, pulsed, gas-phase, nonlinear frequency conversion in a quadruply resonant, double- Lambda system and, simultaneously, verify theoretical predictions of Rabi-frequency matching unique to absorbing nonlinear media. This system is used to up-convert ultraviolet light at 233 nm to the vacuum ultraviolet at 186 nm in atomic Pb vapor with small-signal conversion efficiencies exceeding 30% and with modest atomic density-length (NL) products (scale 10(14) cm(-2)) and optical power densities (10-100 kW/cm(2)).

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.84.5308

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We describe a pulsed, atomic lead (Pb) vapor-based vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) frequency converter from 233 to 186 nm with near-unity photon conversion efficiency. This conversion is attained without phasematching and is accomplished by using electromagnetically induced transparency to drive a Raman transition to near-maximal coherence without loss or beam blow-up. Under these conditions, the linear and nonlinear polarizations of the generated 186-nm field are of the same order and complete conversion from the 233-nm field occurs within a single (nonphasematched) coherence length.
Summary form only given. The techniques of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) may be employed in order to create an effective nonlinear response at a given wavelength which is equal in magnitude to the linear response at that wavelength. Physically, this allows frequency converters wherein 100% photon-to-photon conversion occurs in a single coherence length, i.e., in that distance which causes a /spl pi/ phase slip between the driving polarization and the generated electromagnetic wave. This paper reports the demonstration of a vapor-phase VUV frequency converter from 233 nm to 186 nm with an energy conversion efficiency exceeding 35%; the maximum generated signal energy and power were 250 /spl mu/J and 25 kW. (The net conversion efficiency to 186 nm, including all beams, is roughly 2%.) These wavelengths were chosen to demonstrate the utility of this type of frequency converter to generate wavelengths outside the transparency window of most crystalline media.
Nonlinear optical mixing of existing laser frequencies to access portions of the spectrum where lasing action is not easily obtainable is common practice today. Although nonlinear solid-state media are available [1] for frequency conversion from just under 200 nm in the ultraviolet to about a few microns in the infrared, the generation of widely-tunable laser radiation in the mid-to-far infrared and VUV regions typically requires four-frequency mixing in atomic vapors. In the past, frequency conversion in atomic vapors suffered from poor conversion efficiencies due to the small magnitude of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility and the difficulty in phasematching. We demonstrate a method [2] for performing four-frequency mixing which overcomes both of these shortcomings, allowing efficient frequency conversion with moderate pump intensities.
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