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Applied Physics Letters

Observation of the transparency of a resonant medium to zero-degree optical pulses

H.P. Grieneisen, J. Goldhar, Norman A. Kurnit, Ali Javan, H. Schlossberg

Published Dec 1, 1972• 56 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Experiments are described in which low-intensity laser pulses of zero area [∫−∞∞E(z,t) dt=0] are propagated through a degenerate resonantly absorbing medium with greatly reduced absorption. These pulses are constructed either electro-optically or by allowing a non-zero-degree pulse to evolve toward zero area by means of a resonant absorption and reradiation process. We observe the transmission of as much as 65% of the energy of such pulses through a resonant absorber which attenuates the same cw laser by e−αL, with αL ≈ 20.

DOI
10.1063/1.1654257

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Experiments are described in which low-intensity laser pulses of zero area [∫−∞∞E(z,t) dt=0] are propagated through a degenerate resonantly absorbing medium with greatly reduced absorption. These pulses are constructed either electro-optically or by allowing a non-zero-degree pulse to evolve toward zero area by means of a resonant absorption and reradiation process. We observe the transmission of as much as 65% of the energy of such pulses through a resonant absorber which attenuates the same cw laser by e−αL, with αL ≈ 20.
Resonant absorption in a laser pulse can be reduced to zero if the trailing part induces stimulated emission and returns the absorbed energy back to the pulse. This kind of effect is called Self-Induced Transparency (SIT). Analytic descriptions of short pulse propagation in a resonant medium, based on Slowly Varying Envelope Approximation (SVEA) and in linear media, have been extended in studies of SIT along two principal directions: First, to improve the SVEA by introducing Short Pulse Approximation (SPA); and second, to consider the effect of nonlinear refractive index.
Self-induced transparency effects are examined in an absorbing medium having degenerate optical transitions. Undistorted propagating light pulses exist under restrictive conditions for $j\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}j$ transitions (j>0j>0j>0) and for 0 \ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons} 1 and $\frac{1}{2}\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}\frac{3}{2}$. Pulses which propagate without energy loss for any transition ${j\ensuremath{\rightleftharpoons}j}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ also include zero-degree pulses defined as $\ensuremath{\int}\mathcal{E}(z,t)dt=0$.
Propagation of optical pulses in a resonantly absorbing medium is studied. Propagation time of nanosecond pulses was measured for the Rb D1{D}_{1}D1​ transition. At the center of two absorption lines, delay of the pulse peak which is about ten times as large as the pulse width was observed, where zero delay is defined for the propagation with the light velocity in vacuum. On the other hand, at the peak of an absorption line, negative delay was observed for large absorption, where the advance time is as large as 25% of the pulse width. Simulation including the effect of absorption and phase shift reproduced well the experimental results.
Coherent propagation of intense short laser pulses through degenerate absorbing media is investigated with the use of an atomic-iodine laser-absorber self-resonant combination. Four degenerate systems, the $^{2}P_{\frac{1}{2}}\ensuremath{-}^{2}P_{\frac{3}{2}}$, $F=3\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}=4$, $\ensuremath{\Delta}{M}_{F}=0,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ and $F=2\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}{F}^{\ensuremath{'}}=2$, $\ensuremath{\Delta}{M}_{F}=0,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ transitions, are studied under various conditions. Theoretical analysis based on the "pulse-area---pulse-energy" approach shows different pulse propagation behaviors for three typical types of degeneracy. Experimental results give good agreement with theoretical predictions. It is concluded that self-induced transparency exists in any degenerate two-level system, provided that suitable polarization of radiation is used. The usefulness of self-induced-transparency phenomena for measurements of transitional dipole moment and homogeneous relaxation time is also demonstrated.
Experiments are reported that measure the pulse velocity of a mode-locked 6328-Å He-Ne laser pulse in a resonant absorber as a function of the pulse intensity. At low intensities, pulse velocities greater than the velocity of light in the passive medium are observed. These results are compared with a simple theory based on the saturation of the dispersion associated with the absorption. At higher intensities where the pulse approaches a 2π pulse, pulse delays (that is pulse velocities less than the velocity of light in the passive medium) are observed.