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Europhysics Letters (EPL)

Atomic interference in a microchip laser operating on a Λ transition

Kenju Otsuka, Evgeny A. Viktorov, Paul Mandel

Published Feb 1, 1999• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In a LiNdP 4 O 12 microchip laser pumped by a diode laser, atomic interference arise due to the simultaneous oscillation on two transitions forming a Λ configuration. For a microchip laser, the low-frequency coherence is an important dynamical variable. It is coupled to the low spatial frequency of the population inversion grating. This results in modal intensities which are self-pulsing while the total intensity remains nearly constant. In addition, the modal power spectra display combinations of the relaxation oscillation frequencies which are absent in the power spectrum of the total output power.

DOI
10.1209/epl/i1999-00164-y

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In a LiNdP 4 O 12 microchip laser pumped by a diode laser, atomic interference arise due to the simultaneous oscillation on two transitions forming a Λ configuration. For a microchip laser, the low-frequency coherence is an important dynamical variable. It is coupled to the low spatial frequency of the population inversion grating. This results in modal intensities which are self-pulsing while the total intensity remains nearly constant. In addition, the modal power spectra display combinations of the relaxation oscillation frequencies which are absent in the power spectrum of the total output power.
Summary form only given. Quantum interference in a three-level atomic system with two fields operating in a /spl Lambda/ or V scheme has attracted much attention as a mechanism for the mediation of interactions between light and matter. Amplification and even laser-behavior without a population inversion can be produced by such a system. Kozyreff and Pandel have recently shown analytically and numerically that atomic interference in a microchip laser with a population inversion operating on a /spl Lambda/-transition should result in antiphase pulsations in the vicinity of the Hopf bifurcation point. The phenomenon has been observed in a LiNdP/sub 4/O/sub 12/ (LNP) laser operating on a /spl Lambda/-scheme consisting of /sup 4/F/sub 3/2/(1)/spl rarr//sup 4/I/sub 11/2/(2,3) transitions in a limited pump power region. This paper outlines our demonstration of peculiar large-amplitude periodic pulsations in an intracavity frequency-doubled microchip LNP laser operating on a /spl Lambda/-transition and contains a theoretical confirmation of the mechanism for these pulsations.
We study the dynamics of a laser oscillating on L optical transitions connecting a common upper level and L lower sublevels. Each transition is single mode. The minimal generalization of the rate equations to explain the experimental observations includes the low-frequency coherence dynamics [Europhys. Lett. 45, 307 (1999)]. These equations are studied analytically. We prove that such a laser has a low intensity self-pulsing threshold corresponding to the destabilization of the lowest of the relaxation oscillation frequencies. It also displays antiphased dynamics in the time-periodic regime, resulting in a vanishingly small oscillation amplitude of the total intensity while modal intensities have finite amplitude oscillations. The physical origin of this behavior is found to be the enhancement of stimulated absorption by quantum interference.
We study a Nd-doped microchip glass laser that emits in two polarizations and in many longitudinal modes. Saturation of the inversion by standing waves causes spatial inhomogeneity of both the longitudinal and azimuthal distributions of the laser gain. These nonlinear inhomogeneities couple the modes and result in low-frequency oscillations (10--500 kHz) of the light flux in the individual laser modes. These oscillations are steadily driven by quantum noise and appear as 15% fluctuations of the power in each mode. In-phase fluctuations in the laser modes appear at the frequency of the main relaxation oscillation of the total laser power. Antiphase fluctuations appear at other frequencies in individual longitudinal and polarization laser modes only. The dominant frequency of these fluctuations is determined by the light power in the mode. Numerical simulations of rate equations, including Langevin forces, satisfactorily reproduce the experimental results. These phenomena must be taken into account when lasers are applied as stable coherent optical light sources, and also with sensitive absorption measurements in the laser cavity.
Introduction We were able to show in Chapter 3 that a medium in which we can obtain a population inversion (i.e. a situation in which the population density in the excited state is greater than that in the fundamental level) allows for optical gain of an electromagnetic wave having a frequency near to the resonant frequency of the system. By introducing feedback of the amplified signal into the medium, the system can be made to oscillate naturally, resulting in laser oscillations . To obtain this population inversion, we must introduce at least a third (and perhaps even a fourth) energy level into the system. (We saw how a two-level system under the influence of an intense pump beam will saturate with no resulting population inversion.) The aim then of this chapter is to introduce the concepts necessary to extend our two-level system into a working model capable of illustrating the phenomenon of laser oscillation. We will not spend too much time discussing atomic transition lasers as they do not figure readily in our treatment of quantum electronic properties of semiconductors. An exception will be made, however; we brush upon the particular topics of a diode pumped laser in Complement 4.E and a quantum cascade laser in Complement 13.H. Population inversion and optical amplification Population inversion We will show how population inversion can be achieved by carrier transfer from higher lying levels to the upper level of a two-level subsystem of interest.
We investigate theoretically the intensity and phase correlations in the quantum-noise-driven dynamics of two spatially coupled microchip lasers. These correlations induce noise reduction phenomena for which simple analytic expressions are derived. We predict a complete suppression of the dominant relaxation oscillation peaks in the intensity difference noise spectrum, as well as photon statistics approaching the standard quantum limit. The correlations and consequent noise reduction effects are robust against frequency detuning and persist for pump powers well above threshold.