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Physical Review A

Quantum Theory of an Optical Maser. V. Atomic Motion and Recoil

Dae M. Kim, Marlan O. Scully, Willis E. Lamb

Published Dec 1, 1970• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A quantum theory of an optical maser was developed in the first paper of this series, in which the active medium is made up of static two-level atoms excited in their upper level while the damping atoms are taken in their lower level. The theory was extended in the fourth paper by generalizing to finite atomic and cavity temperatures, and the frequency pulling and pushing relations were also derived. In the present paper we extend the work of the previous papers by allowing the lasing atoms to have thermal motion. Recoil of the atoms due to photon emission or absorption is also considered, and its effect on the laser threshold and operating frequency is given. The influence of the atomic motion on the photon statistics, frequency shift, and line shape of the laser radiation is shown explicitly.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.2.2534

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A quantum theory of an optical maser was developed in the first paper of this series, in which the active medium is made up of static two-level atoms excited in their upper level while the damping atoms are taken in their lower level. The theory was extended in the fourth paper by generalizing to finite atomic and cavity temperatures, and the frequency pulling and pushing relations were also derived. In the present paper we extend the work of the previous papers by allowing the lasing atoms to have thermal motion. Recoil of the atoms due to photon emission or absorption is also considered, and its effect on the laser threshold and operating frequency is given. The influence of the atomic motion on the photon statistics, frequency shift, and line shape of the laser radiation is shown explicitly.
A theoretical model for the behavior of an optical maser is presented in which the electromagnetic field is treated classically, and the active medium is made up of thermally moving atoms which acquire nonlinear electric dipole moments under the action of the field according to the laws of quantum mechanics. The corresponding macroscopic electric polarization of the medium acts as a source for an electromagnetic field. The self-consistency requirement that a quasistationary field should be sustained by the induced polarization leads to equations which determine the amplitudes and frequencies of multimode oscillation as functions of the various parameters characterizing the maser. Among the results obtained are: threshold conditions, single-mode output as a function of cavity tuning, frequency pulling and pushing, mode competition phenomena including frequency locking, production of combination tones, and population pulsations. A more approximate discussion of maser action using rate equations is also given in which the concept of "hole burning" plays a role.
We present a theory which can explain the micromaser as well as its optical counterpart, the microlaser, for appropriate values of dissipative parameters. We show that, in both the the cases, the cavity radiation fields can have sub-Poissonian photon statistics. We further analyse if it is possible to attain a Fock state of the radiation field. The microlaser is precluded for such analysics due to the damping of its lasing levels making transitions at optical frequencies. Hence, we focus our attention on the micromaser and our exact simulation of the dynamics shows that it is not possible to generate a Fock state of the cavity radiation field.
In this chapter we treat single-mode laser operation in which both the atoms and the field obey the laws of quantum mechanics. For simplicity, we suppose for most of the discussion that the field is tuned to atomic line center and that the active atoms are two-level systems which pass through the cavity in a time r, as in Sec. 16-1. To simulate a homogeneously broadened medium, we suppose that the transit times are distributed with the probability y exp(— yr). The more realistic (and complicated) calculation underlying the theory of Chap. 8 is given in Appendix I. We also suppose that excitation occurs only to the upper level; Probs. 17-13 and 17-14 consider excitation to the lower level as well. We describe cavity losses by an ensemble of nonresonant atoms injected into the lower level, as discussed in Sec. 16-1. The response of these “loss” atoms does not saturate (i.e., small coupling constant), as does that of the active atoms. The loss atoms here play the same role as the fictitious con­ ductivity in the semiclassical laser theory of Chap. 8. As shown in Sec. 16-5, an equivalent description is obtained by a reservoir of simple harmonic os­ cillators with a spread of frequencies. Our discussion depends on the reservoir theory of Sec. 16-1, in which the reduced density operator represents the ra­ diation field. In Chap. 20 we give a related development in which the Langevin (Heisenberg picture) approach is used.
The interaction is considered between NNN stationary two-level atoms and a radiation field described by a single cavity mode. The state vector for the complete system of atoms plus radiation is expressed as a linear superposition of states constructed from a product of photon states in the nnn representation and products of Pauli spin eigenstates describing all combinations of atoms in the lower and upper energy levels. Equations for the corresponding probability amplitudes are derived by substituting this superposition into the Schr\"odinger equation. The resulting equations are combined into bilinear form and phenomenological damping contributions are added. After the neglect of certain of the bilinear quantities, a master equation is derived which governs the probability Pmn{{P}_{m}}^{n}Pm​n of having mmm atoms in the lower level and nnn photons in the mode. This master equation takes account of multiple single-quantum absorption and emission processes but not of simultaneous multiple processes involving two or more atoms at a time. The equation which governs the expected number of photons 〈n〉〈n〉〈n〉 derived from the master equation bears a close resemblance to a rate equation. The effect of radiation loss from the cavity is incorporated into the master equation. Numerical calculations for a QQQ-spoiled laser show that the statistics of the number of photons in the mode bear a qualitative resemblance to Poisson statistics.
A quantum statistical analysis of an optical maser is presented in generalization of the recent semiclassical theory of Lamb. Equations of motion for the density matrix of the quantized electromagnetic field are derived. These equations describe the irreversible dynamics of the laser radiation in all regions of operation (above, below, and at threshold). Nonlinearities play an essential role in this problem. The diagonal equations of motion for the radiation are found to have an apparent physical interpretation. At steady state, these equations may be solved via detailed-balance considerations to yield the photon statistical distribution ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{n,n}$. The resulting distribution has a variance which is significantly larger than that for coherent light. The off-diagonal elements of the radiation density matrix describe the effects of phase diffusion in general and provide the spectral profile ${| E(\ensuremath{\omega}) |}^{2}$ as a special case. A detailed discussion of the physics involved in this paper is given in the concluding sections. The theory of the laser adds another example to the short list of solved problems in irreversible quantum statistical mechanics.