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Journal of the Physical Society of Japan

Free Precession Beat of Two-Photon Induced Coherence in Atomic Rubidium Vapor

Hiroki Nakatsuka, Jumpei Okada, Masahiro Matsuoka

Published May 1, 1981• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Free precession beat of two-photon induced coherence was observed by the use of delayed probe pulses in atomic rubidium vapor. The two-photon coherence was created in the superposition state of the 5S 1/2 and 5D 5/2 levels of Rb by two-photon resonant excitation with a mode-locked dye laser pulse. The origin of the beat is attributed to the hyperfine splittings of the 5S 1/2 ground state of both Rb 85 and Rb 87 . The observed results are explained by a theory presented in this paper.

DOI
10.1143/jpsj.50.1624

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Free precession beat of two-photon induced coherence was observed by the use of delayed probe pulses in atomic rubidium vapor. The two-photon coherence was created in the superposition state of the 5S 1/2 and 5D 5/2 levels of Rb by two-photon resonant excitation with a mode-locked dye laser pulse. The origin of the beat is attributed to the hyperfine splittings of the 5S 1/2 ground state of both Rb 85 and Rb 87 . The observed results are explained by a theory presented in this paper.
A coherent superposition state of 5S and 5D levels of Rb vapor, when it was excited by two-photon resonant transition between these levels, was observed by applying an interrogation pulse which was non-resonant to the system. The emphasis is laid on this coherence in the atomic excitation, instead of just the population inversion, in explaining the origin of various strong collimated emissions observed by many authors. Saturation of the off diagonal density matrix element between 5S and 5D levels was observed at higher excitation level due to the population change. An analysis of the saturation is given using a simple model for the coherence of the dye laser beam.
Probing the interactions between a mode-locked laser pulse and saturated rubidium vapor with a pump–probe technique has resulted in observations of coherences within the atom that persist longer than 150 ps. Quantum beats due to the interference between the 7S and 5D_{5/2} energy states were observed by a four-wave mixing process. The difference frequency between the 5D–5P_{3/2} and the 5P_{3/2}–5S transitions was also observed for interpulse delays up to 180 ps. The temporal evolution of the beat amplitude indicates the existence of a superfluorescent process and a scattering process detected simultaneously with the four-wave mixing process. A model was developed to explain the processes and was used to predict the range of pulse parameters for which the scattering process and four-wave mixing could be simultaneously detected.
Calcium vapor has been excited by two-photon absorption of a mode-locked dye-laser pulse, and emission from a coherent superposition state of the $4{s}^{2}^{1}S_{0}$ and 4s3d1D24s3d^{1}D_{2}4s3d1D2​ levels has been observed using a delayed off-resonant interrogation pulse in the picosecond regime. The emission signal intensity was measured as a function of the delay time of the interrogation pulse, and showed a peak well delayed from that of the dye-laser pulse. This reflects the fact that the induced coherence is expressed by a time integral of the excitation. The emission signal was then found to decay as a result of the Doppler effect. The above process is analyzed by Bloch and Maxwell equations. This is the first reported observation of the coherence of an atomic system induced by two-photon absorption, a coherence which persists after the passage of the excitation pulse and decays inhomogeneously as a result of thermal motion. In carrying out the experiment, deformation of the input dye-laser pulse during propagation through the two-photon resonant medium was carefully avoided.
Abstract The coherent blue light generated in rubidium vapor due to the combined action of an ultrashort pulse train and a continuous wave diode laser is investigated. Each step of the two-photon transition 5S–5P 3 / 2 –5D is excited by one of the lasers, and the induced coherence between the 5S and 6P 3 / 2 states is responsible for generating the blue beam. Measurements of the excitation spectrum reveal the frequency comb structure and allow us to identify the resonant modes responsible for inducing the nonlinear process. Further, each resonant mode excites a different group of atoms, making the process selective in atomic velocity. The signal dependency on the atomic density is characterized by a sharp growth and a rapid saturation. We also show that for high intensity of the diode laser, the Stark shift at resonance causes the signal suppression observed at low atomic density.
We report the observation of coherent UV light pulses by the coherent scattering of IR pulses from atomic rubidium vapor. Rubidium atoms were first excited by a 100 fs pulse from the 5S ground state to the 5D state via a two-photon transition. The atoms were then pumped by an IR pulse resonant to the 5D–12P transition. The presence of the IR pulse triggered the instantaneous emission of a UV light pulse on the 12P–5S transition. The pulse had a time duration of tens of picoseconds, which was measured by a picosecond-resolution streak camera. The temporal shape of the generated light is explained by a simplified atom–field interaction theory.
We demonstrate temporal coherent control in two-photon transitions. A pair of broadband (Δλ∼20nm), ultrashort (Δt∼100fs), collinear pulses with a variable time delay excites the rubidium atoms into the 5D state from the 5S ground state where the two-photon transitions are enhanced by the intermediate level 5P. The excited atoms radiate 5μm (5D–6P) and 420nm (6P–5S) light. As a result of tuning the wavelength of the input laser, a superfluorescence at 420nm exhibits different temporal behaviors. A switching from a beating at the frequency given by the difference between the sequential atomic transitions that involve the 5P3/2 intermediate level, to a quantum beating due to two different two-photon excitation paths, 5S→5P1/2→5D and 5S→5P3/2→5D is observed. Based on the simple atom-field interaction theory, an analytic solution, which qualitatively elucidates experimental results, is obtained.