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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Two mechanisms for population inversion via two-colour coherent excitation in three-level systems

Xiangming Hu, Zhizhan Xu

Published Oct 28, 2002• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We analyse the physical origin of population inversion via continuous wave two-colour coherent excitation in three-level systems by dressing the inverted transition. Two different mechanisms are identified as being responsible for the population inversion. For V -configured systems and cascade (Ξ) configured systems with inversion on the lower transition, the responsible mechanism is the selective trapping of dressed states, and the population inversion approaches the ideal value of 1. For Λ-configured systems and Ξ-configured systems with inversion on the upper transition, population inversion is based on the selective excitation of dressed states, with the population inversion tending towards 0.5. As the essential difference between these two mechanisms, the selective trapping of dressed states occurs in systems with strong decay into dressed states while the selective excitation appears in systems with strong decay out of dressed states.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/35/21/314

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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Jan 1, 1998•0 citations
We analyse the physical origin of population inversion via continuous wave two-colour coherent excitation in three-level systems by dressing the inverted transition. Two different mechanisms are identified as being responsible for the population inversion. For V -configured systems and cascade (Ξ) configured systems with inversion on the lower transition, the responsible mechanism is the selective trapping of dressed states, and the population inversion approaches the ideal value of 1. For Λ-configured systems and Ξ-configured systems with inversion on the upper transition, population inversion is based on the selective excitation of dressed states, with the population inversion tending towards 0.5. As the essential difference between these two mechanisms, the selective trapping of dressed states occurs in systems with strong decay into dressed states while the selective excitation appears in systems with strong decay out of dressed states.
Exemplifying the three-level systems in the V configuration, we investigate the role of selective excitation of dressed populations in lasing without inversion. Incoherent driving field transfers population from either of the dressed states to excited state when the level spacing between dressed states produced by the coherent field is much larger than the spectral width of the incoherent driving field. With atomic decay pathways，unidirectional channel of population transfer is formed and selective excitation of dressed populations is established. Employing selective excitation of dressed populations，three severe limits are relaxed. First，it is no longer required that the decay rate of the low-frequency driving transition is larger than that of high-frequency laser transition. Second，the threshold for incoherent driving rate is remarkably lowered. Third，linear gain of the laser without inversion is no longer inversely proportional to the coherent driving field intensity, and the gain is significantly enhanced.
To coherently control a few-level quantum emitter, typically pulses with an energy resonant to the transition energy are applied, making use of the Rabi mechanism, while a single off-resonant pulse does not result in a population inversion. Surprisingly, a two-color excitation with a combination of two off-resonant pulses is able to invert the system. In this paper, we provide an in-depth analysis of two-color excitation schemes within the dressed-state picture. We show that such schemes can be understood as a driving of the transition between the dressed states. In the two-level system this allows us to derive analytic expressions for the pulse parameters yielding a population inversion. We relate our findings to the Swing-UP of quantum EmitteR population (SUPER) mechanism, where the two pulses are red detuned. Our interpretation also holds in the case where one pulse is red detuned while the other pulse is blue detuned, as in dichromatic excitation schemes. We extend our considerations of the SUPER mechanism to the three-level system, where a strong mixing between the bare states takes place. The insights gained from these results help in finding accessible regimes for further experimental realizations of two-color excitation schemes.
We show that continuous-wave, two colour excitation of three-level atoms opens new channels of irreversible population transfer between atomic levels. This process, which we describe as dynamically induced irreversibility, leads to unanticipated phenomena including the inversion of atomic transitions whose upper atomic level has no conventional source of irreversible population pumping. We also study the effect of excitation-field bandwidth on the gain exhibited by driven, three-level, V-type atomic systems. Gain, which may or may not be inversionless in the atomic-state basis, is produced through strong monochromatic driving of one atomic transition and weaker pumping of a coupled transition. It is found that monochromatic pumping frequently yields greater optical gain than incoherent (wide bandwidth) pumping. This is particularly true when system gain can be attributed to hidden inversions among the eigenstates (semi-classical dressed states) of the coupled atom+driving field quantum system. Last, we report the observation of continuous-wave lasing in a strongly driven barium cascade system and interpret its properties in terms of the models presented.
We study the correlation between level populations, absorption and two-photon coherence in closed Λ- and V-shaped three-level systems interacting with two lasers of arbitrary intensity. Whereas it is well known that maximum two-photon coherence leads to population trapping in Λ-shaped three-level systems interacting with two equally detuned lasers, we demonstrate that minimum two-photon coherence, under saturation conditions, can lead to equal populations in all the levels of a Λ- or V-shaped system when the lasers are symmetrically detuned. Moreover we show that steady-state population inversion between one of the upper levels of a V-shaped system and the ground state can occur when either the detunings are asymmetrical or the upper states decay at different rates. It is shown that this population inversion does not lead to stimulated emission into the lasing modes. These effects are also correlated with two-photon coherence and are explained physically by a cross three-photon scattering process involving two laser photons of different frequencies.
The steady-state populations and the absorption spectrum of a V-type three-level atom driven by a strong coherent field and a weak stochastic one simultaneously are investigated. The population inversion in bare-state and dressed-state bases can happen significantly due to the effect of the stochastic field. A relation between the level gap of both atomic excited states and the Rabi frequency is found to decide in which excited state the population is larger than in another one for the same frequency detuning δ between the coherent and the stochastic fields. The line profiles of the absorption spectrum are strongly dependent on the frequency detuning δ. Different lineshapes such as a sharp emission peak (gain), an absorption peak or a dispersion-like peak can be exhibited at the line centre for different δ. Asymmetrical spectral features and line narrowing can be reached by adjusting δ and the Rabi frequency. Probe gain in sidebands can occur due to the unbalanced population distribution in dressed states.
Summary form only given.A three-level atom in the V-configuration is treated under two coherent laser fields at resonance with the two allowed transitions. The master equation for the system and full quantum mechanical Hamiltonian are derived, and equations of motion for the elements of the density matrix are obtained by projecting into the bare- and dressed-states schemes. Analysis of light amplification without population inversion in this V-type system is accomplished within the framework of the dressed-state basis. The physical content of the equations of motion for the density matrix elements, namely the coherences and the populations is provided by identifying effective decay and relaxation rates and gain/absorption constants with the appropriate composite coefficients. These depend on the Rabi frequencies of both the drive and probe coherent fields. Time-dependent solutions for both the coherences and the populations are obtained both numerically and analytically under the secular approximation. We have shown how to construct these analytical approximate time-dependent solutions for dressed-state populations and coherences. These approximate solutions, as well as the full numerical calculation quantities, exhibit oscillations at the generalized Rabi frequency.