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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Quantum interference from spontaneous decay in Lambda systems: realization in the dressed-state picture

Xiangming Hu, Jin-sheng Peng

Published Feb 23, 2000• 45 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We show that quantum interference from spontaneous decay in a three-level -type system can be realized in the dressed-state picture of coherently driven systems. The physical realization relaxes the stringent conditions upon the level spacing and quantum numbers of the lower-level doublet. Since the physical realization means the equivalence between the systems with quantum interference and the driven systems, the equivalence may be conveniently used to illustrate the physical pictures of some phenomena. We give two interesting examples. The first is the dynamically induced population inversion, which originates from quantum interference between dressed states. The second is the disappearance of a dark state in a bare system with quantum interference, which is due to a disparity in coupling intensities on two transitions of the equivalent V system.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/33/5/308

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We show that quantum interference from spontaneous decay in a three-level -type system can be realized in the dressed-state picture of coherently driven systems. The physical realization relaxes the stringent conditions upon the level spacing and quantum numbers of the lower-level doublet. Since the physical realization means the equivalence between the systems with quantum interference and the driven systems, the equivalence may be conveniently used to illustrate the physical pictures of some phenomena. We give two interesting examples. The first is the dynamically induced population inversion, which originates from quantum interference between dressed states. The second is the disappearance of a dark state in a bare system with quantum interference, which is due to a disparity in coupling intensities on two transitions of the equivalent V system.
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We study the spontaneous-emission properties of a coherently driven four-level atom, and show a few interesting phenomena such as fluorescence quenching, spectral-line narrowing, spectral-line enhancement, and spectral-line elimination. These phenomena can be observed in experiment since the rigorous condition of near-degenerate levels with nonorthogonal dipole moments is not required here. Qualitatively, these phenomena can be attributed to the quantum interference between competitive spontaneous-decay channels in the bare-state picture or the spontaneously generated coherence between two close-lying levels in the dressed-state picture.
We discuss quantum interference effects in the resonance fluorescence spectrum of a \ensuremath{\Lambda} three-level atom when the lower-level doublet is driven by a coherent field. The interfering pathways that lead to the same final state involve both spontaneous decays and stimulated transitions, and differ from one another by an odd number of stimulated processes induced by the driving field. As a consequence, the interference structures depend upon the phase of the coherent field, an effect that is absent in other resonance fluorescence phenomena. The phase dependence of the quantum interference contribution is especially significant when the level splitting of the driven doublet is comparable to the spontaneous decay rates of the competing optical paths.
We report on an experimental observation of quantum interference between two dressed states created by a coherent pumping laser in an electromagnetically induced transparency. In a \ensuremath{\Lambda}-type three-level atomic system in rubidium vapor, we reduce the Rabi frequency of the pumping laser in one arm down below the spontaneous decay rate of the common excited state and still observe a narrow dip with subnatural linewidth in the absorption curve of a probe beam in another arm. This clearly demonstrates that the absorption reduction at the low pumping intensity is mainly due to the interference between the two dressed states, not due to the ac--Stark-shift effect.
We study Fano-like interference in double photon absorption, describing quantum beats in the second-order correlation function for both a free Λ-V system and a driven four-level scheme which approximately reproduces the first one in the dressed state picture. Because of interference, both amplitude and frequency of the beat oscillations are modified and (in some case) suppressed. In the case of the driven system, a partial coherent control of these features can be obtained, even in the presence of spontaneous emission for the driven transition.
The modification of the spontaneous emission spectrum has been studied in this paper in a four-level doubly driven N-type atomic system. In the presence of two coherent fields, emphasis has been given to studying the spectral distribution of spontaneous emission in the relaxation process of the initially prepared excited level. The phenomenon of quantum interference dynamically induced in the system by these fields can significantly change the spontaneous emission spectrum. We have shown the emergence of a two-peak spectrum where two widely separated symmetric peaks are associated with a sharp dark line at their mid-position. At different dynamic conditions, we have also shown that two symmetric peaks may appear in the spectrum with an extended dark zone between them. Depending on the values of the Rabi frequencies and the detunings of the external fields, one can achieve a large enhancement of very narrow spectral components within the spontaneous emission line shape under different conditions. The phenomenon of suppression of spectral line and the selective cancellation of spontaneous emission have also been discussed. The results shown in various cases are analysed by considering all possible dressed states corresponding to the bare state model. The influence of collision-induced effects on the spontaneous emission spectrum is investigated as a conditional case.