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Physical Review A

Polarization dependence and interference in four-wave mixing with Rydberg levels in rubidium vapor

S. S. Vianna, P. Nussenzveig, Wictor C. Magno, J. W. R. Tabosa

Published Oct 1, 1998• 15 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have observed an interference in four-wave mixing involving two Rydberg states that play the key role of near two-photon resonant intermediate levels. This interference, due to the coherence of the nonlinear process, can be explained either classically or quantum mechanically and it depends on the lasers' polarizations and detunings. We have performed calculations that are in very good agreement with the experimental data. Our results provide new information about the system, such as ionization rates of the Rydberg levels and the ratio of reduced matrix elements involved.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.58.3000

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We have observed an interference in four-wave mixing involving two Rydberg states that play the key role of near two-photon resonant intermediate levels. This interference, due to the coherence of the nonlinear process, can be explained either classically or quantum mechanically and it depends on the lasers' polarizations and detunings. We have performed calculations that are in very good agreement with the experimental data. Our results provide new information about the system, such as ionization rates of the Rydberg levels and the ratio of reduced matrix elements involved.
We present new results on the coherent control of a four-wave mixing signal in rubidium vapor involving Rydberg levels. By varying the relative polarizations of the laser beams responsible for the nonlinear process, we control atomic excitation routes and thus quantum interference in the medium. We observed interference fringes as a function of the relative polarizations and further developed a theoretical model based on the density-matrix formalism that is in very good agreement with our experimental results.
We report on observations of four-wave mixing in rubidium vapor via two-photon resonant excitation with nd and (n+2)s states, for n=14–20. The intensity of the generated beam is studied in a collinear configuration, and the results are consistent with the predictions of a theoretical model based on the semiclassical Maxwell–Bloch equations, considering interference effects associated with multiple excitation pathways and with internally generated fields. We have also observed spectral broadening of the two-photon resonant lines, which is well described by a linear dependence on atomic density, in accordance with collision-induced broadening.
We present experimental results on nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a thermal vapor cell of rubidium atoms via highly excited Rydberg states. We observe sub-Doppler spectral features and a large sensitivity of the mixed light mode to small electric fields due to the large polarizabilities of the involved Rydberg state. We observe a saturation of the optical response due to the nonlinear four-level physics. The strong interaction between Rydberg atoms and the associated Rydberg blockade could potentially increase the nonlinearity dramatically.
We develop a model to calculate nonlinear polarization in a nondegenerate four-wave mixing in diamond configuration which includes the effects of hyperfine structure and Doppler broadening. We verify the model against the experiment with 52S1/2,52P3/2,52D3/25{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{S}_{1/2},5{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{3/2},5{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{D}_{3/2}52S1/2​,52P3/2​,52D3/2​, and 52P1/25{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}{P}_{1/2}52P1/2​ levels of rubidium 85. Treating the multilevel atomic system as a combination of many four-level systems we are able to express the nonlinear susceptibility of a thermal ensemble in a low-intensity regime in terms of Voigt-type profiles and obtain an excellent conformity of theory and experiment within this complex system. The agreement is also satisfactory at high intensity and the analytical model correctly predicts the positions and shapes of resonances. Our results elucidate the physics of coherent interaction of light with atoms involving higher excited levels in vapors at room temperature, which is used in an increasing range of applications.
An experimental study of electromagnetically induced two- photon transparency (EITT) in rubidium atomic vapor at room temperature is presented. A four level system is considered, involving the two-photon absorption process 5S1/2 to 8S1/2 via an intermediate state 5P3/2, and the single- photon control process 5P3/2 to 5D5/2. A controlling pump laser beam is employed to coherently couple the 5P3/2 and 5D5/2 states, thus producing two dressed intermediate states, which give rise to destructive interference in the two-photon transition. Fluorescence from 8S1/2 to 5P1/2 is used to monitor the 5S1/2(Fequals3) to 8S1/2(Fequals3) two-photon absorption. An induced two-photon transparency of about 80% has been obtained at resonance; the experimental results are in good agreement with the general theory of Agarwal, when the appropriate spectroscopic parameters are employed.