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Physical Review A

Controlling the cavity field with enhanced Kerr nonlinearity in three-level atoms

Hai Wang, David J. Goorskey, Min Xiao

Published May 2, 2002• 51 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate cavity field control by another laser beam with three-level \ensuremath{\Lambda}-type atoms inside an optical ring cavity. By adjusting the frequency detuning of the controlling beam (coupled to one of the atomic transitions), the intensity of the cavity field interacting with another atomic transition is switched on and off. Such all-optical switching between two steady states is caused by the enhanced Kerr nonlinearity due to atomic coherence in such system.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.65.051802

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We experimentally demonstrate cavity field control by another laser beam with three-level \ensuremath{\Lambda}-type atoms inside an optical ring cavity. By adjusting the frequency detuning of the controlling beam (coupled to one of the atomic transitions), the intensity of the cavity field interacting with another atomic transition is switched on and off. Such all-optical switching between two steady states is caused by the enhanced Kerr nonlinearity due to atomic coherence in such system.
Summary form only given. The reduced absorption and enhanced nonlinearity in a three-level electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) system are very important in achieving an effective all-optical switching action. The Kerr-nonlinear index of refraction of a three-level EIT medium can be greatly enhanced near resonance due to atomic coherence induced in such a system in comparison with a two-level atomic system, as we have shown by using an optical ring cavity. Both the magnitude and sign of the Kerr-nonlinear index change dramatically for different frequency detunings of the controlling (or coupling) or cavity (or probe) field. Bistability and dynamic instability occur when such a three-level /spl Lambda/-type EIT system is placed inside an optical ring cavity and the controlling and cavity input intensities to exceed certain threshold values. In this paper, we present a recent experimental demonstration of controlling the cavity output intensity by modulating the frequency detuning of the controlling beam.
We present our experimental demonstration of controlling the cavity output intensity of one laser beam with the intensity of another laser beam in a composite system consisting of a collection of three-level ?-type rubidium atoms and an optical ring cavity. When the intensity of the controlling beam is modulated with a square waveform, the cavity output power switches on and off (with a distinction ratio better than 20:1) between two steady-state values. This all-optical switching effect is the result of combined absorption and enhanced Kerr nonlinearity near resonance in such three-level atomic systems because of atomic coherence and can find applications in optical communication and optical computation.
We have experimentally studied the optical bistable behavior in an optical ring cavity filled with a collection of three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type rubidium atoms, interacting with two collinearly propagating laser beams. The bistability so observed is very sensitive to the induced atomic coherence in this electromagnetically induced transparency system or consequently to the altered nonlinearity in the system and, thus, can easily be controlled by changing the intensity and the frequency detuning of the coupling field.
Dynamic instability in the transmission field of an optical ring cavity containing three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type rubidium atoms is studied in detail both experimentally and theoretically. The onset and periodicity of such dynamic oscillations in the cavity field can be controlled by the experimental parameters, such as intensity and frequency detuning of the coupling field and∕or cavity field. Such nonlinear dynamic behavior is caused by competition between optical saturation of the cavity field and optical population pumping by the coupling field in the three-level atomic system.