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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Propagation of high-intensity short resonant pulses in inhomogeneously broadened media

Nurith Schupper, Harry Friedmann, M. Matusovsky, M. Rosenbluh, A. D. Wilson‐Gordon

Published Jul 1, 1999• 12 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We investigate the areas of extremely short, intense (area ⩾π) resonant optical pulses on propagation through an inhomogeneously broadened atomic medium. Experimentally, there is no apparent change in the shape of such pulses on propagation, in contradiction to the area theorem. Here we show that, although the main part of the pulse is unchanged for short propagation distances (αl∼1), it is followed by a long weak tail formed by free induction decay from the excited atoms. The tail lengthens and oscillates on propagation through the medium and permits the area theorem to be obeyed. These oscillations, which depend critically on the Doppler broadening, are reflected in the spectral analysis of the propagated pulse. We also introduce another mechanism for pulse reshaping, which is a generalization of the McCall–Hahn pulse breakup and operates at long propagation lengths (αl≫1), where the number of absorbing atoms encountered by the pulse is comparable with the number of photons in the pulse.

DOI
10.1364/josab.16.001127

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We investigate the areas of extremely short, intense (area ⩾π) resonant optical pulses on propagation through an inhomogeneously broadened atomic medium. Experimentally, there is no apparent change in the shape of such pulses on propagation, in contradiction to the area theorem. Here we show that, although the main part of the pulse is unchanged for short propagation distances (αl∼1), it is followed by a long weak tail formed by free induction decay from the excited atoms. The tail lengthens and oscillates on propagation through the medium and permits the area theorem to be obeyed. These oscillations, which depend critically on the Doppler broadening, are reflected in the spectral analysis of the propagated pulse. We also introduce another mechanism for pulse reshaping, which is a generalization of the McCall–Hahn pulse breakup and operates at long propagation lengths (αl≫1), where the number of absorbing atoms encountered by the pulse is comparable with the number of photons in the pulse.
Effects of propagation of an extremely short (of one or several oscillation periods) electromagnetic pulse in a medium whose resonance transition is characterized by diagonal as well as nondiagonal matrix elements of the dipole moment operator have been studied numerically. The Maxwell-Bloch system of equations is employed without using the approximation of slowly varying envelopes. An analog of the McCall and Hahn area theorem is discussed as applied to the division of the initial extremely short pulse into subpulses. The solution is obtained in the form of a solitary stable bipolar signal with a nonzero pulse area (nonzero breather).
We investigate short pulses propagation through multilevel atomic vapors. The medium is composed of an ensemble of four atomic levels generated by the hyperfine structure of the D1 transition in Rubidium-87 atoms. The pulses are resonant to their respective optical transitions, in order to have a well-defined pulse area definition. We discuss local stabilization of the pulse area with or without energy stabilization and as a function of the prolonged distance. Furthermore, we explore some new features for the propagation dynamics in multilevel atomic media which are beyond the traditional framework of McCall and Hahn area theorem and self-induced transparency.
The optical density of a resonant medium significantly affects the output signal in time resolved nonlinear optical interactions. The resonant interaction with a medium reshapes any propagating short pulse, and the mutual interaction of several such pulses, as in four-wave mixing, must be treated self-consistently. We present a theoretical framework for the proper handling of the propagation of all pulses, input as well as generated, in the small area limit. For optically thick resonant absorbers, negative time delay signals are observed, and the apparent decay rate of the induced polarization is faster than the rate observed for thin samples. We experimentally measure degenerate four-wave mixing in an atomic medium as an example, and demonstrate the quality of the theoretical model by the excellent fit to measured signals over several orders of magnitude. The improved understanding enables us to provide a simple, but surprisingly accurate, estimate for the apparent decay rate in homogeneously broadened optically thick media: If the absorption is given by \ensuremath{\alpha}, the propagation length is L, and the transverse relaxation time is T2{\mathit{T}}_{2}T2​, the apparent decay rate 2/Ta{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{a}}Ta​ of a time resolved four-wave mixing signal is given by 2/Ta{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{a}}Ta​=(2/T2{\mathit{T}}_{2}T2​)(1+\ensuremath{\alpha}L/2).
We present a numerical method for solving the Maxwell-Bloch equations describing pulse propagation for a two-level medium. The method is accurate, efficient, stable, and well suited for this type of simultaneous equations. By applying the numerical scheme we investigate the evolutions of pulse area, pulse propagation, pulse velocity, and spectral shapes under both homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening conditions. The results show that the area evolution and pulse-reshaping procedure are significantly influenced by detuning and inhomogeneous line shape, which also impact the oscillation tail and pulse peak. In addition, the pulse-peak traces indicated the pulse velocity always increases with greater deviation in pulse-area value from the value 2\ensuremath{\pi}. We also demonstrate the pulse velocity increased for a larger detuning or a wider inhomogeneous line shape. Furthermore, the spectral feature shows that pulse spectra evolve into an oscillating shape.
This article presents a study of the propagation of small-area pulses of coherent light through matter. It is found that the small-area pulses exactly obey an area theorem which, in the case of an attenuating medium, requires that the pulse area decay to zero exponentially with increasing distance of propagation. This, however, does not necessarily imply that the pulse energy decays exponentially. Instead, it is found that pulses of duration comparable to or shorter than the transverse relaxation time of the medium T2{T}_{2}T2​ (including both homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening) propagate with low energy loss. The results are explained in terms of simple physical arguments which indicate that the pulse envelope should oscillate between positive and negative values, causing the area to decrease without a comparable decrease in the pulse energy. Analytic solutions are presented for the case of a pulse whose envelope varies as ${t}^{k}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}t}$ for t>0t>0t>0, a rectangular pulse, an ultrashort pulse (i.e., pulse width much less than T2{T}_{2}T2​), and the leading portion of a step-function pulse. The propagation of a small-area Gaussian pulse is studied numerically.
We show that enhanced compression of short pulses can be obtained by propagating them through a two-level atom medium characterized by an inhomogeneously broadened atomic line with a spectral hole. The area theorem remains valid, and consequently there is a slowing down of the pulse area compared with that observed in the analogous case of an amplifier without any hole. On the other hand, there are relative increases in the pulse time width and its energy content. Among the special cases, an inhomogeneous atomic line with a zero on the carrier frequency resonance produces a stable pulse with a zero area.