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Physics-Uspekhi

Superradiance and related phenomena

L. I. Men’shikov

Published Feb 28, 1999• 54 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The current theory of superradiance is described. The effect is due to interatomic correlations (phase-locking) which arise under the action of a general electromagnetic field and are determined by the competition between the electron motion anharmonicity and the interatomic dipole–dipole interaction. The latter affects significantly the nature of the superradiance effect. A common nature for the radiations from a Dicke atomic ensemble and from collective waves in a substance (for example, cyclotron waves in a magnetized plasma) is established. Superradiance manifests itself in hot magnetically confined plasmas and accounts, among other things, for anomalous heat conductivity in tokamaks.

DOI
10.1070/pu1999v042n02abeh000521

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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Sep 26, 1997•0 citations
The current theory of superradiance is described. The effect is due to interatomic correlations (phase-locking) which arise under the action of a general electromagnetic field and are determined by the competition between the electron motion anharmonicity and the interatomic dipole–dipole interaction. The latter affects significantly the nature of the superradiance effect. A common nature for the radiations from a Dicke atomic ensemble and from collective waves in a substance (for example, cyclotron waves in a magnetized plasma) is established. Superradiance manifests itself in hot magnetically confined plasmas and accounts, among other things, for anomalous heat conductivity in tokamaks.
A comparative analysis is given of spin superradiance and atomic superradiance. Their similarities and distinctions are emphasized. It is shown that, despite a close analogy, these phenomena are fundamentally different. In atomic systems, superradiance is a self-organized process, in which both the initial cause, being spontaneous emission, as well as the collectivizing mechanism of their interactions through the common radiation field, are of the same physical nature. Contrary to this, in actual spin systems with dipole interactions, the latter are the major reason for spin motion. Electromagnetic spin interactions through radiation are negligible and can never produce collective effects. The possibility of realizing superradiance in molecular magnets by coupling them to a resonant circuit is discussed.
Recent advances in optical studies of condensed matter systems have led to the emergence of a variety of phenomena that have conventionally been studied in the realm of quantum optics. These studies have not only deepened our understanding of light–matter interactions but have also introduced aspects of many-body correlations inherent in optical processes in condensed matter systems. This paper is concerned with the phenomenon of superradiance (SR), a profound quantum optical process originally predicted by Dicke in 1954. The basic concept of SR applies to a general N body system, where constituent oscillating dipoles couple together through interaction with a common light field and accelerate the radiative decay of the whole system. Hence, the term SR ubiquitously appears in order to describe radiative coupling of an arbitrary number of oscillators in many situations in modern science of both classical and quantum description. In the most fascinating manifestation of SR, known as superfluorescence (SF), an incoherently prepared system of N inverted atoms spontaneously develops macroscopic coherence from vacuum fluctuations and produces a delayed pulse of coherent light whose peak intensity ∝N2. Such SF pulses have been observed in atomic and molecular gases, and their intriguing quantum nature has been unambiguously demonstrated. In this review, we focus on the rapidly developing field of research on SR phenomena in solids, where not only photon-mediated coupling (as in atoms) but also strong Coulomb interactions and ultrafast scattering processes exist. We describe SR and SF in molecular centers in solids, molecular aggregates and crystals, quantum dots, and quantum wells. In particular, we will summarize a series of studies we have recently performed on semiconductor quantum wells in the presence of a strong magnetic field. In one type of experiment, electron-hole pairs were incoherently prepared, but a macroscopic polarization spontaneously emerged and cooperatively decayed, emitting an intense SF burst. In another type of experiment, we observed the SR decay of coherent cyclotron resonance of ultrahigh-mobility 2D electron gases, leading to a decay rate that is proportional to the electron density. These results show that cooperative effects in solid-state systems are not merely small corrections that require exotic conditions to be observed; rather, they can dominate the nonequilibrium dynamics and light emission processes of the entire system of interacting electrons.
We have developed a novel method to describe superradiance and related cooperative and collective effects in a closed form. Using the method we derive a two-atom master equation in which any complexity of atomic levels, semiclassical coupling fields and quantum fluctuations in the fields can be included, at least in principle. As an example, we consider the dynamics of an initially inverted two-level system and show how even such in a simple system phenomena such as the initial radiation burst or broadening due to dipole-dipole interactions occur, but it is also possible to estimate the population of the subradiant state during the radiative decay. Finally, we find that correlation only, not entanglement is responsible for superradiance.
The present state of theoretical and experimental research on collective spontaneous emission (superradiance) in a system of radiators (atoms, molecules, or nuclei) is reviewed. The distinction between superradiance and the amplification of spontaneous emission is discussed. There is also a discussion of conditions under which the effect can be observed and of various theoretical methods for describing superradiance: the quantum single-mode and multimode models and the semiclassical approach. Theoretical papers on superradiance in systems with dimensions smaller than the wavelength of the radiation and also in extended systems are reviewed. It is shown that superradiance may occur in weakly amplifying media. A situation in which the superradiance is oscillatory is described. The possible use of superradiance to generate coherent emission in the x-ray and ? ranges is discussed. The superradiance accompanying Raman scattering of light in atomic and molecular media is studied. The theoretical results are compared with experimental observations of superradiance in the optical range. In an appendix, the nature of the phase transition in a system of radiators interacting through an electromagnetic field is discussed.