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Physical Review A

Interference effects in a three-level atom in a cavity beyond the weak-field approximation

David A. Cardimona, Paul M. Alsing, Henry Mozer, C. K. Rhodes

Published Jun 11, 2009• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate quantum interference and classical-interference effects when three-level atoms in the ``$\ensuremath{\Lambda}$'' or ``V'' configuration interact with both a cavity-field mode and an external driving field mode. We describe electromagnetically induced transparency ($\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ configuration), as well as a ``field-induced transparency'' (V configuration), and we go beyond the weak cavity-field studies of previous papers by utilizing a Heisenberg-picture density matrix approach. We find that under certain circumstances the cavity field evolves to be equal in magnitude to, but $180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ out of phase with, the external pump field when the pump-field frequency equals the cavity frequency, a surprising effect found in two-level atoms in a cavity excited by an external pump field that persists in three-level atoms. The better the cavity, the quicker this buildup occurs. When the cavity field reaches this ``out-of-phase'' condition, the resonance fluorescence from the atom in the cavity goes to zero. This is a purely classical-interference effect between the two out-of-phase fields, with the resonance fluorescence going to zero at the same time as the two excited state populations go to zero. This is quite different from the quantum interference that occurs under the right circumstances when the state populations are coherently driven into a linear combination that is decoupled from any applied field and population is trapped in the excited states (``coherent population trapping''). When the cavity frequency is tuned to the frequency at which quantum interference would occur, the two interference effects compete with each other. The cavity field begins to evolve toward the $180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ out-of-phase condition, thereby approaching a classical destructive interference condition with the pump field. Then at some point before 100% classical interference occurs, depending on the cavity damping rate and atom/cavity coupling strength, the atom builds up its coherence between state populations to produce the quantum interference effect. At that point, the atom becomes transparent and resonance fluorescence disappears, including fluorescence into the cavity, thereby causing the cavity field to die away.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.79.063817

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We investigate quantum interference and classical-interference effects when three-level atoms in the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$'' or V'' configuration interact with both a cavity-field mode and an external driving field mode. We describe electromagnetically induced transparency (\ensuremathΛ\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremathΛ configuration), as well as a field-induced transparency'' (V configuration), and we go beyond the weak cavity-field studies of previous papers by utilizing a Heisenberg-picture density matrix approach. We find that under certain circumstances the cavity field evolves to be equal in magnitude to, but $180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$ out of phase with, the external pump field when the pump-field frequency equals the cavity frequency, a surprising effect found in two-level atoms in a cavity excited by an external pump field that persists in three-level atoms. The better the cavity, the quicker this buildup occurs. When the cavity field reaches this out-of-phase'' condition, the resonance fluorescence from the atom in the cavity goes to zero. This is a purely classical-interference effect between the two out-of-phase fields, with the resonance fluorescence going to zero at the same time as the two excited state populations go to zero. This is quite different from the quantum interference that occurs under the right circumstances when the state populations are coherently driven into a linear combination that is decoupled from any applied field and population is trapped in the excited states (``coherent population trapping''). When the cavity frequency is tuned to the frequency at which quantum interference would occur, the two interference effects compete with each other. The cavity field begins to evolve toward the 180\ifmmode∘\else\textdegree\fi180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}180\ifmmode∘\else\textdegree\fi out-of-phase condition, thereby approaching a classical destructive interference condition with the pump field. Then at some point before 100% classical interference occurs, depending on the cavity damping rate and atom/cavity coupling strength, the atom builds up its coherence between state populations to produce the quantum interference effect. At that point, the atom becomes transparent and resonance fluorescence disappears, including fluorescence into the cavity, thereby causing the cavity field to die away.
We investigate quantum interference and classical interference effects when a three-level system interacts with both a cavity field mode and an external driving field mode, within the confines of a photonic crystal material. In freespace, we found that under certain circumstances the cavity field evolves to be equal in magnitude to, but 180° out-of- phase with the external pump field when the pump field frequency equals the cavity frequency. The better the cavity, the quicker this build-up occurs. When the cavity field reaches this out-of-phase condition, the resonance fluorescence from the atom in the cavity goes to zero. This is a purely classical interference effect between the two out-of-phase fields, with the resonance fluorescence going to zero at the same time as the two excited state populations go to zero. This is quite different from the quantum interference that occurs under the right circumstances, when the state populations are coherently driven into a linear combination that is decoupled from any applied field - and population is trapped in the excited states, thus allowing for a population inversion and an amplification of incoming optical signals. In this paper, we investigate the additional effects due to the presence of the altered photon density of states in a photonic crystal.
In space situational awareness scenarios, the objects needed to be characterized and identified are usually quite far away and quite dim. Thus, optical detectors need to be able to sense these very dim optical signals. Quantum interference in a three-level system can lead to amplification of optical signals. If we put a three-level system into a cavity tuned to the frequency of an incoming optical signal, we anticipate the amplification possibilities should be increased proportional to the quality factor of the cavity. Our vision is to utilize quantum dots in photonic crystal cavities, but as a stepping stone we first investigate a simple three-level system in a free-space optical cavity. We investigate quantum interference and classical interference effects when a three-level system interacts with both a cavity field mode and an external driving field mode. We find that under certain circumstances the cavity field evolves to be equal in magnitude to, but 180° out-of-phase with the external pump field when the pump field frequency equals the cavity frequency. At this point the resonance fluorescence from the atom in the cavity goes to zero due to a purely classical interference effect between the two out-of-phase fields. This is quite different from the quantum interference that occurs under the right circumstances, when the state populations are coherently driven into a linear combination that is decoupled from any applied field - and population is trapped in the excited states, thus allowing for a population inversion and an amplification of incoming optical signals.
We study the effect of quantum interference on the population distribution and absorptive properties of a V-type three-level atom driven by two lasers of unequal intensities and different angular frequencies. Three coupling configurations of the lasers to the atom are analysed: (a) both lasers coupled to the same atomic transition, (b) each laser coupled to different atomic transition and (c) each laser coupled to both atomic transitions. Dressed states for the three coupling configurations are identified, and the population distribution and absorptive properties of the weaker field are interpreted in terms of transition dipole moments and transition frequencies among these dressed states. In particular, we find that in the first two cases there is no population inversion between the bare atomic states, but the population can be trapped in a superposition of the dressed states induced by quantum interference and the stronger field. We show, that the trapping of the population, which results from the cancellation of transition dipole moments, does not prevent the weaker field to be coupled to the cancelled (dark) transitions. As a result, the weaker field can be strongly amplified on transparent transitions. In the case of each laser coupled to both atomic transitions the population can be trapped in a linear superposition of the excited bare atomic states leaving the ground state unpopulated in the steady state. Moreover, we find that the absorption rate of the weaker field depends on the detuning of the strong field from the atomic resonances and the splitting between the atomic excited states. When the strong field is resonant to one of the atomic transitions a quasi-trapping effect appears in one of the dressed states. In the quasi-trapping situation all the transition dipole moments are different from zero, which allows the weaker field to be amplified on the inverted transitions. When the strong field is tuned halfway between the atomic excited states, the population is completely trapped in one of the dressed states and no amplification is found for the weaker field.
We investigate the behavior of a two-level atom in a multimode cavity driven from the side by a time-dependent field. The time-dependent fields we have looked at are (i) pure amplitude modulated, (ii) pure frequency modulated, (iii) single sideband, and (iv) general three-mode fields. Each of these fields results in two (for the single-sideband case) or three modes separated by the modulation frequency. We find that when the driving field mode spacing is a multiple of the cavity mode spacing, the multimode cavity field created by the driven two-level atom becomes exactly 180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} out of phase with the external driving field in steady state. This results in a zero net field at the position of the atom and, hence, the atom remains unexcited regardless of the strength of the external driving field. This is very reminiscent of the field-induced transparency effect as described by Cardimona et al. [J. Phys. B 15, 55 (1982)] in which the various dipole transitions of a multilevel atom dressed by a coherent field are driven 180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} out of phase with each other, producing a zero net fluorescence. We also show that, in the limit of an infinite cavity, the multimode equations reduce to the neoclassical equations of Stroud and Jaynes [Phys. Rev. A 1, 106 (1970)].
We investigate spontaneous emission and quantum interference effects involving a three-level atom in the vicinity of a photonic band edge beyond the weak-driving-field approximation. We consider two different three-level atoms, each subject to a probe field from the ground state and each embedded within a different photonic crystal (PhC). The first atom has the two excited states separated by a dipole transition in the optical frequency range, with this frequency being close to the surrounding PhC's band edge. The probe field couples the ground state and the highest excited state, and is well outside the PhC band gap. If a coupling field is applied between the two upper levels, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) may occur, depending on the position of the band edge. The second atom has the two upper levels each dipole-coupled to the ground state and close enough that the emissions from each can coherently interfere. This atom is embedded within a PhC whose band edge lies near the lower of the two excited states, and a probe field is applied that lies just beyond this band edge. This atom exhibits a quantum interference phenomenon related to EIT called field-induced transparency, again depending on the position of the band edge relative to the lower excited state.
We consider the effect of quantum interference on population distribution and photon statistics of a cavity field interacting with dressed states of a strongly driven three-level atom. We analyse three coupling configurations of the cavity field to the driven atom, with the cavity frequency tuned to the outer Rabi sideband, the inner Rabi sideband and the central frequency of the 'singly dressed' three-level atom. The quantum doubly dressed states for each configuration are identified and the population distribution and photon statistics are interpreted in terms of transitions among these dressed states and their populations. We find that the population distribution depends strongly on quantum interference and the cavity damping. For the cavity field tuned to the outer or inner Rabi sidebands the cavity damping induces transitions between the dressed states which are forbidden for the ordinary spontaneous emission. Moreover, we find that in the case of the cavity field coupled to the inner Rabi sideband the population distribution is almost Poissonian with a large average number of photons that can be controlled by quantum interference. This system can be considered as a one-atom dressed-state laser with controlled intensity.