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Physical Review A

Three-level system driven by delayed pulses of finite duration

Artur Mikhailovich Ishkhanyan, Kalle‐Antti Suominen

Published May 13, 2002• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We find the exact solution to the three-state problem for a class of intuitive and counterintuitive sequences of delayed pulses of finite duration in terms of the Clausen's generalized hypergeometric function, which reduces to simple analytic expressions, involving elementary functions only, for final occupation probabilities. These analytic results show that the sequence of delayed pulses, independently of the pulse order and applied detunings, can completely remove the population from the initially populated state (thus creating a quantum superposition of two other involved states). This conclusion extends the original result of Vitanov and Stenholm [Phys. Rev. A 55, 648 (1997)], to the case of nonzero two-photon detuning and more general pulse shapes.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.65.051403

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We find the exact solution to the three-state problem for a class of intuitive and counterintuitive sequences of delayed pulses of finite duration in terms of the Clausen's generalized hypergeometric function, which reduces to simple analytic expressions, involving elementary functions only, for final occupation probabilities. These analytic results show that the sequence of delayed pulses, independently of the pulse order and applied detunings, can completely remove the population from the initially populated state (thus creating a quantum superposition of two other involved states). This conclusion extends the original result of Vitanov and Stenholm [Phys. Rev. A 55, 648 (1997)], to the case of nonzero two-photon detuning and more general pulse shapes.
We derive 15 classes of time-dependent two-state models solvable in terms of the confluent Heun functions. These classes extend over all the known families of three- and two-parametric models solvable in terms of the hypergeometric and the confluent hypergeometric functions to more general four-parametric classes involving three-parametric detuning modulation functions. In the case of constant detuning the field configurations describe excitations of two-state quantum systems by symmetric or asymmetric pulses of controllable width and edge-steepness. The classes that provide constant detuning pulses of finite area are identified and the factors controlling the corresponding pulse shapes are discussed. The positions and the heights of the peaks are mostly defined by two of the three parameters of the detuning modulation function, while the pulse width is mainly controlled by the third one, the constant term. The classes suggest numerous symmetric and asymmetric chirped pulses and a variety of models with two crossings of the frequency resonance. We discuss the excitation of a two-level atom by a pulse of Lorentzian shape with a detuning providing one or two crossings of the resonance. We derive closed form solutions for particular curves in the 3D space of the involved parameters which compose the complete return spectrum of the considered two-state quantum system.
We present explicit analytic expressions for adiabatic dressed states which, in suitable limits, produce complete population transfer between initial and final states of a four-state excitation chain without ever placing appreciable population into intermediate states. The population-transfer scheme is a generalization of the three-state stimulated Raman adiabatic passage that makes use of counterintuitive pulse sequences. We demonstrate analytically and numerically that the four-state system differs in a very significant qualitative way from previously studied N-state systems with odd N. In particular, we find that the presence of modest detuning from single-photon resonance is critical to the success of population transfer.
We demonstrate that various properties of population transfer by delayed pulses in three-level systems on two-photon resonance can be deduced analytically and for general pulse shapes. We use the fact that the three-level system reduces to effective two-level problems at large intermediate-level detuning \ensuremath{\Delta}, on resonance (\ensuremath{\Delta}=0) and for completely overlapping pulses. Special attention is paid to the effect of the pulse order on the population transfer efficiency. We show that on resonance the transfer efficiency depends substantially on the pulse order, while at large \ensuremath{\Delta} it does not. We also find that under some natural restrictions on the symmetry of the problem, the population of the initial level does not depend on the pulse order at any \ensuremath{\Delta}. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the population transfer in the three-level system can be viewed as a level-crossing problem in an equivalent two-level system not only at large \ensuremath{\Delta} (which is known) but also on resonance, \ensuremath{\Delta}=0. The effective on-resonance two-level problem is interesting by itself as it shows that a level crossing and adiabatic evolution do not necessarily lead to complete population inversion. As examples throughout the paper, we present several analytically solvable models.
We discuss the level-crossing field configurations for which the quantum time-dependent two-state problem is solvable in terms of the confluent Heun functions. We show that these configurations belong to fifteen four-parametric families of models that generalize all the known 3- and 2-parametric families for which the problem is solvable in terms of the Gauss hypergeometric and the Kummer confluent hypergeometric functions. Analyzing the general case of variable Rabi frequency and frequency detuning we mention that the most notable features of the models provided by the derived classes are due to the extra constant term in the detuning modulation function. Due to this term the classes suggest numerous symmetric or asymmetric chirped pulses and a variety of models with two crossings of the frequency resonance. The latter models are generated by both real and complex transformations of the independent variable. In general, the resulting detuning functions are asymmetric, the asymmetry being controlled by the parameters of the detuning modulation function. In some cases, however, the asymmetry may be additionally caused by the amplitude modulation function. We present an example of the latter possibility and additionally mention a constant amplitude model with periodically repeated resonance-crossings. Finally, we discuss the excitation of a two-level atom by a pulse of Lorentzian shape with a detuning providing one or two crossings of the resonance. Using a series expansion of the solution of the confluent Heun equation in terms of the Kummer hypergeometric functions we derive particular closed form solutions of the two-state problem for this field configuration. The particular sets of the involved parameters for which these solutions are obtained define curves in the 3D space of the involved parameters belonging to the complete return spectrum of the considered two-state quantum system.
It is shown that any pulse with a time-asymmetric envelope and a constant non-zero detuning excites a two-level quantum system with a probability of nearly one-half provided the pulse is very asymmetric, adiabatic in the slowly rising part of its envelope, sudden in the steep part and the peak Rabi frequency is much greater than the detuning. Three particular cases are considered analytically: the asymmetric hyperbolic-secant, the Bambini-Berman and the exponential pulse, which illustrate the general conclusions. The results are applied to a special three-level 'vee' system whose two transitions are driven by two asymmetric laser pulses of the same Rabi frequencies and the same detunings. Analysis shows that if such a system is prepared initially in its ground state, effective population depletion of this state can be achieved, the results being quite insensitive to variations in the Rabi frequency and the detuning.
In the previous paper on this topic it was shown how, for a pulse of arbitrary shape and duration, the drive frequency can be analytically optimized to maximize the amplitude of the population oscillations between the selected two levels in a general many level quantum system. It was shown how the standard Rabi theory can be extended beyond the simple two-level systems. Now, in order to achieve the quickest and as complete as possible population transfer between two pre-selected levels, driving pulse should be tailored so that it produces only a single half-oscillation of the population. In this paper, this second (and final) step towards the controlled population transfer using modified (i.e. many level system) Rabi oscillations is discussed. The results presented herein can be regarded as an extension of the standard πππ-pulse theory - also strictly valid only in the two level systems - to the coherently driven population oscillations in general many level systems.