The free induction decay (FID) and light-echo kinetics are calculated under the assumption that a two-level system frequency is a purely discontinuous noncorrelated Markovian process, and its statistical distribution is a bi-Lorentzian contour. The latter assumption is primarily mathematical, but useful. The model allows one to obtain an exact solution of the FID problem, which recovers the results obtained earlier with perturbation theory (the fast modulation limit) as well as the result concerning the slow modulation limit. It is shown that only in the latter case does the field dependence of the FID rate found by De Voe and Brewer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 1269 (1983)] have a self-consistent explanation.
In a previous paper [ J. Opt. Soc. Am. B3, 564 ( 1986)], the validity conditions for the optical Bloch equations were reviewed. It was shown that, even within the limits of an impact or Markovian approximation, the optical Bloch equations fail to account properly for fluctuation-induced changes in atomic transition frequencies. Such changes are properly incorporated in a quantum-mechanical transport equation (QMTE) in which the fluctuation-induced frequency shifts are totally characterized by kernels W(∊′ → ∊) that give the probability density per unit time for a fluctuation to change the frequency shift from ∊′ to ∊. The QMTE describes the interaction of atoms with both an external radiation field and the perturber bath producing the fluctuations. A general method for solving the QMTE as a perturbation series in the external field is presented. Specific calculations are carried out for strong-redistribution, difference [W(∊′ → ∊) is a function of (∊–∊′) only], and Brownian motion kernels. It is shown that, although the kernels possess fundamental differences, they can yield similar results in certain limits. As an example, a perturbation calculation is performed for the free-induction decay (FID) of atoms prepared by a cw laser field and then allowed to radiate when the field is suddenly removed. Radical departures from the predictions of the conventional Bloch equations are found in certain limits, including a first-order contribution to FID in vapors and a nonexponential FID decay for atoms in vapors or solids. The implications of these results to a consistent interpretation of a recent experiment [ Phys. Rev. Lett.50, 1269 ( 1983)] on FID in the impurity ion crystal Pr3+:LaF3 are explored.
The free-induction decay (FID) after saturation by a laser radiation pulse of finite duration is studied for systems with spectral diffusion. The exact solution of the FID signal shape has been obtained in the framework of the telegraph noise model. This solution takes into account the finite duration of the saturating field and is valid at arbitrary values of the spectral exchange rate and the amplitude of the coherent field. The exact expression of the FID signal is derived in the weak-external-field limit. It is shown that the FID signal suddenly disappears after a time equal to the pulse width. This confirms the validity of the theorem on coherent transients, which has been proved for the Bloch equations [A. Schenzle, N. C. Wong, and R. G. Brewer, Phys. Rev. A 22, 635 (1980)].
The present paper treats the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), i.e., the absorption spectrum of a weak probe field, near-resonant to a material transition, in the presence of a strong amplitude-phase fluctuating field which couples the upper level of the transition to another excited level. The coupling field is assumed to be chaotic (i.e., a complex Gaussian process with a Lorentzian spectrum) and so strong that the material relaxation and the detuning can be neglected. In addition, we consider the Fourier transform of the spectrum
Uaa(t), which determines absorption of a probe field with a time-dependent intensity. The quantity
Uaa(t) equals a diagonal element of the average reduced evolution operator of the two-level system (TLS), coupled by the strong field. As a starting point, we use the stationary, partially averaged stochastic Schr\"odinger equation, which has the form of a set of two second-order differential equations. The theory is developed by combining analytical and numerical approaches. For the most important regime, when the rms Rabi frequency
V0 is much greater than the coupling-field bandwidth $\ensuremath{\nu},$ we obtain scaling relations for the EIT line shape and the TLS evolution. In particular, the absorption at the minimum (i.e., at the resonance frequency) scales as ${\ensuremath{\nu}}^{1/3}{V}_{0}^{\ensuremath{-}4/3},$ whereas the evolution function
Uaa(t) performs damped oscillations with the decay rate on the order of ${(V}_{0}^{2}\ensuremath{\nu}{)}^{1/3}.$ These results differ significantly from those following from the uncorrelated-jump model. The results of this paper are shown to be applicable to more general models of amplitude-phase fluctuations than the Gaussian-Markovian chaotic field.
The free-induction decay (FID) after saturation by a laser radiation pulse of finite duration is studied for systems with spectral diffusion. The exact solution of the FID signal shape has been obtained in the framework of a model of noncorrelated spectral exchange. The analysis accounts for the finite duration of the saturating field and is valid at an arbitrary value of the spectral exchange rate and amplitude of the coherent field. An exact expression for the FID signal is derived in the weak-external-field limit. A self-consistent explanation of the experimental field dependence of the FID rate [A. Szabo and T. Muramoto, Phys. Rev. A 39, 3992 (1989)] is obtained using a model of slow noncorrelated spectral diffusion.
Photon echo and free induction decay, i.e., representative coherent optical transients, are described for two level system whose transition frequency is modulated by the Gaussian-Markoffian process. Photon echo signal is shown to decay biexponentially and to be effective in fixing the magnitude and the correlation time of the frequency modulation. Then we present the transition of the free induction decay rate against laser intensity from the Bloch type at the weak laser field into the Redfield one at the strong laser field.