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Quantum Optics Journal of the European Optical Society Part B

Inverse scattering theory of superfluorescence

Heinz Steudel

Published Oct 1, 1990• 14 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The inverse scattering method enables a generic nonlinear theory of superfluorescence. In the semiclassical theory used here the process starts from a fluctuating polarization source. The source function is expanded with respect to an appropriate function system, and in this way it can be replaced by a set of normalized random numbers. The Gelfand-Levitan-Marchenko equations are solved approximately. Delay statistics and the pulse shape are studied, and the influence of inhomogeneous broadening is discussed. Results are compared with other theories as well as with experiment.

DOI
10.1088/0954-8998/2/5/004

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The inverse scattering method enables a generic nonlinear theory of superfluorescence. In the semiclassical theory used here the process starts from a fluctuating polarization source. The source function is expanded with respect to an appropriate function system, and in this way it can be replaced by a set of normalized random numbers. The Gelfand-Levitan-Marchenko equations are solved approximately. Delay statistics and the pulse shape are studied, and the influence of inhomogeneous broadening is discussed. Results are compared with other theories as well as with experiment.
The evolution of a superfluorescent pulse is studied in the region of large sample lengths.A solution to the Maxwell-Bloch semiclassical equations is found by using the inverse scattering method.It has the form of a onesoliton solution with varying parameters.Dependence on the pulse width and the retarded time is found without further approximations.These parameters are shown to be independent of the inhomogeneous broadening time.Their values are in good agreement with experiment.Asymmetry of the pulse is also investigated.
The fluctuating properties of superradiant and superfluorescent systems are investigated by supplementing the equations of motion for the expectation values of quantum observables with random force terms. In the case of a small atomic system the time evolution of the radiated intensity as well as the intensity fluctuations are computed. We also find the time dependence of the average dipole moment in the presence of chirping. For a pencil-shaped geometry, a generalized system of Maxwell–Bloch equations is analysed. The inhomogeneous broadening is then included. We compare the semiclassical equation for the probability distribution of the atomic variables with the quantum equations based both on normal and antinormal ordering. With the exception of the region in the vicinity of the poles of the Bloch sphere, a close correspondence between the semiclassical and quantum theories is established. The oscillatory superfluorescence is treated similarly to quantum analysis by employing a new method of Lugiato for open systems.
Superfluorescence emission profiles are computed using one-way coupled Maxwell-Bloch equations. Transverse effects are included in the full three-spatial-dimension case as well as in the cylindrical-symmetry case. Initiating quantum fluctuations are approximated by a random polarization source with a completely random phase and root-mean-square tipping angle of 2N\frac{2}{\sqrt{N}}N​2​, where NNN is the number of atoms in each volume element. These fluctuations reduce the tail of the output obtained with transverse effects alone. In fact, the fluctuations in output pulse shapes encompass the Cs data of Gibbs, Vrehen, and Hikspoors. The standard deviation for the delay time is found to be (12.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}4)% for Fresnel number of 0.8 compared with the value (10\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2)% recently measured by Vrehen and der Weduwe, also for Cs. Inhomogeneous-broadening effects are also included in some simulations.
A probability distribution W(t)W(t)W(t) for the delay time ttt of superfluorescent pulses is defined in terms of a functional integral, which is evaluated exactly. Although the linearized early-stage dynamics is used, full agreement is obtained with previous numerical and experimental results for the variance of ttt and, more generally, for the shape of W(t)W(t)W(t). The effect of inhomogeneous broadening of the atomic levels, showing that decrease of the dephasing time T2∗{{T}_{2}}^{*}T2​∗ leads to substantial increase of the mean and variance of ttt, is also analyzed.
We discuss the delay-time statistics of superfluorescent pulses by introducing the concept of a passage time at which the field intensity reaches a specified value. Such passage times can be estimated accurately from the early-stage linear dynamics of the radiating system. The distribution function for the passage times, we show, can be expressed as a functional integral over the random zero point fluctuations of the atomic polarization. The functional integral can be evaluated exactly and reduced to an elementary closed form. Our theory applies both to the sharp and the broadened atomic line. The results we obtain agree with experimental data and numerical calculations already in existence for the unbroadened line. For the broadened line we predict substantial changes of the mean value and the variance of the passage time as the width of the atomic line increases. We also investigate the influence of the shape of the spectral distribution of atomic frequencies and show that the delay statistics depend significantly on the way in which the spectral density decreases in the wings of the atomic line.
We have formulated the quantum theory of formation of the superfluorescence pulse from a pencil-like amplifier. The coupled system of the linearized Bloch equations for two-level atoms and the three-dimensional wave equation for the electric field has been solved in the geometrical-optics approximation for Fresnel numbers $F \ensuremath{\ge} 1$. Several properties of the superfluorescence pulse are discussed. The spatial coherence function of the pulse has been found as a function of the Fresnel number. This function provides a precise formulation of the concept of "diffraction modes." The delay-time distribution function for various Fresnel numbers has been found. The results are consistent with experimental data and numerical simulations.