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Physical Review A

Quantum-statistical analysis of superfluorescence and amplified spontaneous emission in dense media

Jagdish Rai, Charles M. Bowden

Published Aug 1, 1992• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have studied the quantum-statistical properties of superfluorescence (SF) and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) for dense media (media of densities corresponding to many atoms, on the average, within a cubic resonance wavelength). We use the Langevin equations of motion, obtained from a fully quantized model that takes into account induced near dipole-dipole interactions associated with dense media, together with the coupled Maxwell equation, to formulate a stochastic calculation ensemble. Quantum Monte Carlo methods are used in conjunction with the stochastic model, to conduct a statistical analysis of phase waves for this system. Results are presented for the phase-wave density, delay time, and peak-intensity fluctuations. The transition from SF to ASE is treated using the stochastic model.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.46.1522

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We have studied the quantum-statistical properties of superfluorescence (SF) and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) for dense media (media of densities corresponding to many atoms, on the average, within a cubic resonance wavelength). We use the Langevin equations of motion, obtained from a fully quantized model that takes into account induced near dipole-dipole interactions associated with dense media, together with the coupled Maxwell equation, to formulate a stochastic calculation ensemble. Quantum Monte Carlo methods are used in conjunction with the stochastic model, to conduct a statistical analysis of phase waves for this system. Results are presented for the phase-wave density, delay time, and peak-intensity fluctuations. The transition from SF to ASE is treated using the stochastic model.
Cooperative emission from a collection of atoms prepared in an initial state of complete inversion has been studied extensively in the past. In this paper we study the cooperative emission in dense atomic systems where there is a large average number of atoms per cubic resonance wavelength. For systems with such large densities, effects of the induced dipole-dipole interaction among neighboring atoms become important. Recently it has been shown that such interatomic interaction in a dense atomic system can lead to novel nonlinear effects.1,2 The induced dipole-dipole interaction for two-level atoms appears as a nonlinear inversion dependent renormalization of the atomic resonance frequency which gives rise to a set of modified Maxwell-Bloch equations. We study the phenomenon of superfluorescence (SF) and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) using the modified Maxwell-Bloch equations. Statistical effects of amplified quantum stochastic processes are analyzed in SF and ASE. Phase wave statistics are analyzed in the linear regime of coherent pulse buildup. Amplified effects in the nonlinear regime in the SF to ASE transition region are statistically analyzed. Dipole dephasing due to collisions is found to play an important role.
The coupling of forward and backward propagating waves is studied theoretically in the transition region between superfluorescence (SF) and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). To accomplish this a computer code has been written that solves Maxwell's equations in time and two spatial dimensions and accounts for counter-propagation, diffraction, and temporal coherence in the Bloch equations. Diffraction is ignored in the present calculations. In the SF regime the coupling is generally weak, as found by others; however, I have found a randomly occurring shot-to-shot coupling that is quite significant in cases where one wave, forward or backward, becomes established from quantum noise first in the amplified rod. In this case the wave that arises second is strongly coupled to the first. In the ASE regime the propagation shows strong forward-backward coupling and the characteristic spatial profile of the inversion that tends to zero at either end and to the small signal value of one in the middle of the amplifier. In the transion region the propagation shows mixed SF and ASE behavior.
We simulate the transition from amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) to lasing in random systems with varying degrees of mode overlap. This is accomplished by solving the stochastic Maxwell-Bloch equations with the finite-difference time-domain method. Below lasing threshold, the continuous emission spectra are narrowed by frequency-dependent amplification. Our simulations reproduce the stochastic emission spikes in the spectra. Well-defined peaks, corresponding to the system resonances, emerge at higher pumping and are narrowed by stimulated emission before lasing takes place. Noise tends to distribute pump energy over many modes, resulting in multimode operation. Well above the lasing threshold, the effects of noise lessen and results become similar to those without noise. By comparing systems of different scattering strength, we find that weaker scattering extends the transition region from ASE to lasing, where the effects of noise are most significant.
An approach to modeling the dynamics of x-ray amplified spontaneous emission and superfluorescence, the phenomenon of collective x-ray emission initiated by intense pulses of x-ray free-electron lasers, is developed based on stochastic partial differential equations. The equations are derived from first principles, and the relevant approximations, derivation steps, and extensions specific to stimulated x-ray emission are presented. The resulting equations take the form of three-dimensional generalized Maxwell-Bloch equations augmented with noise terms for both field and atomic variables. The derived noise terms possess specific correlation properties that enable the correct reconstruction of spontaneous emission. Consequently, the developed theoretical formalism is universally suitable for describing all stages of stimulated x-ray emission: spontaneous emission, amplified spontaneous emission, and superfluorescence. We present numerical examples that illustrate various properties of the emitted field, including spatiotemporal coherence and spectral-angular and polarization characteristics. We anticipate that the proposed theoretical framework will establish a robust foundation for interpreting measurements in stimulated x-ray emission spectroscopy, modeling x-ray laser oscillators, and describing other experiments leveraging x-ray superfluorescence.
We formulate a second-quantized theory of propagation in laser-active media and apply it to the description of amplified spontaneous emission for the case of homogeneously broadened three-level atoms in a rodlike geometry with arbitrary Fresnel number. The electromagnetic field is treated in paraxial approximation by an ad hoc quantization scheme, and spontaneous emission into off-axis modes is described by noise operator methods. We show by a scaling (dimensional) analysis how to derive the characteristic fields and lengths for superfluorescence and amplified spontaneous emission. The results show that dye media can be used as experimental analogs for x-ray lasers.
A recently introduced theoretical framework for modeling the dynamics of x-ray amplified spontaneous emission is based on stochastic sampling of the density matrix of quantum emitters and the radiation field, similarly to other phase-space sampling techniques. While based on first principles and providing valuable theoretical insights, the original stochastic differential equations exhibit divergences and numerical instabilities. Here, we resolve this issue by accounting the stochastic components perturbatively. The refined formalism accurately reproduces the properties of spontaneous emission and proves universally applicable for describing all stages of collective x-ray emission in paraxial geometry, including spontaneous emission, amplified spontaneous emission, and the nonlinear regime. Through numerical examples, we analyze key features of superfluorescence in a one-dimensional approximation. Importantly, single realizations of the underlying stochastic equations can be fully interpreted as individual experimental observations of superfluorescence.