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Physical Review A

Nonlinear theory of a laser with injected atomic coherence

János A. Bergou, J. Zhang, Ahmed Hourri

Published Nov 1, 1994• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The influence of injected atomic coherence on a laser's operation is discussed by analyzing the semiclassical equations of motion of this system. Both stationary-steady-state and time-dependent regimes of operation are investigated. We present the dependence of the stationary laser intensity and phase on the external parameters (population inversion, amplitude of atomic coherence, and detuning). For small cavity-field detuning and large atomic coherence, both frequency and phase locking occurs. The laser frequency is locked to the atomic frequency, and the phase is locked to a value determined primarily by the phase of the atomic coherence. Under certain conditions, in the inverted regime, the output intensity is an ssS-shaped function of the atomic coherence, leading to the possibility of a bistable behavior. However, only a portion of the bistable curve gives stable stationary operation, and in critical points (the location of which depends crucially on the external parameters) time-dependent instabilities branch away. When the detuning is larger than a critical value there is neither phase nor frequency locking. We find that the time-dependent behavior of the laser intensity in this case is oscillatory (quasiperiodic), and show that there is a stable limit cycle in the phase plane of the quadratures. There is a small parameter region where a stationary steady state and an oscillatory state may coexist. We also consider the nonlinear quantum theory of a laser with injected atomic coherence, and include the effect of pumping statistics. We derive the Fokker-Planck equation for the P representation, and express the noise in terms of moments. We find that in the steady state the intensity noise can be suppressed below the shot-noise limit but that the phase fluctuations are not affected by pump regularity. For nonzero detuning, we find that transient squeezing of the phase fluctuations is possible.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.50.4188

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Physical Review A•May 1, 1989•69 citations
The influence of injected atomic coherence on a laser's operation is discussed by analyzing the semiclassical equations of motion of this system. Both stationary-steady-state and time-dependent regimes of operation are investigated. We present the dependence of the stationary laser intensity and phase on the external parameters (population inversion, amplitude of atomic coherence, and detuning). For small cavity-field detuning and large atomic coherence, both frequency and phase locking occurs. The laser frequency is locked to the atomic frequency, and the phase is locked to a value determined primarily by the phase of the atomic coherence. Under certain conditions, in the inverted regime, the output intensity is an ssS-shaped function of the atomic coherence, leading to the possibility of a bistable behavior. However, only a portion of the bistable curve gives stable stationary operation, and in critical points (the location of which depends crucially on the external parameters) time-dependent instabilities branch away. When the detuning is larger than a critical value there is neither phase nor frequency locking. We find that the time-dependent behavior of the laser intensity in this case is oscillatory (quasiperiodic), and show that there is a stable limit cycle in the phase plane of the quadratures. There is a small parameter region where a stationary steady state and an oscillatory state may coexist. We also consider the nonlinear quantum theory of a laser with injected atomic coherence, and include the effect of pumping statistics. We derive the Fokker-Planck equation for the P representation, and express the noise in terms of moments. We find that in the steady state the intensity noise can be suppressed below the shot-noise limit but that the phase fluctuations are not affected by pump regularity. For nonzero detuning, we find that transient squeezing of the phase fluctuations is possible.
We discuss the influence of injected atomic coherence on laser dynamics. The nonlinear equations of motion for the intensity and phase give the dependence on external parameters (inversion, amplitude of the atomic coherence, and cavity-field detuning). Depending on the inversion, there can be one or three steady-state solutions corresponding to a given value of the injected coherence. The situation is analogous to optical bistability, the atomic coherence playing the role of the injected field. For zero detuning the upper, laser-like branch starts at zero value of the injected coherence and a numerical stability analysis indicates that it is the only stable solution, the lower branch being everywhere unstable. For finite detuning the upper branch starts at a finite threshold value of the injected coherence. For coherences smaller than this threshold the system exhibits oscillatory behavior that corresponds to a stable limit cycle in the phase plane of the laser quadrature variables. The intensity fluctuations of the laser exhibit antibunching for sub-Poissonian pumping statistics.
We investigate the effect of injected squeezed vacuum on the phase and intensity fluctuations of a laser. By using a stochastic simulation of the Langevin equations, we find that the phase diffusion noise of a laser with injected squeezed vacuum can be transiently reduced by a factor of 2, in agreement, with earlier predictions. Further, we find that the laser linewidth is broadened. The key observation is that the phase-diffusion rate is time dependent. We find that the steady-state intensity fluctuations are increased by the injected squeezing, in qualitative (but not quantitative) agreement with an earlier prediction. The problem of locking is examined. We find that the injected squeezed vacuum does not cause the laser to lock to any particular phase. We present an approximate solution of the Fokker-Planck equation in steady state, and a simple geometrical, vector kick model from which most of our results can be obtained.
Both stationary and time-dependent regimes of operation, instabilities, and phase squeezing are investigated in the off-resonant two-photon correlated-spontaneous-emission laser by numerical calculation. Initial atomic coherence plays an essential role in lasing without population inversion, phase locking, and phase noise squeezing in the system. Under certain conditions, in the inverted and noninverted regimes alike, the output intensity exhibits bistable behaviors against the initial atomic coherence. Depending on the parameters, the whole or a portion of the upper or lower branch gives stable operations. In the inverted regime, even tristable behavior can be found in a narrow range of parameters. The field evolution and dynamics are studied. Furthermore, phase noise reduction near bistable areas is also investigated. In addition to the lower branch, where from previous studies, it has been known to exist, phase squeezing is also found on the upper branch both with and without population inversion, thus generating a bright source of phase noise squeezed light.
A quantum theory of a two-level single-mode laser with injected atomic coherence is developed by generalizing the Scully-Lamb laser theory to a form appropriate for the analysis of a coherently pumped laser. We assume that the active atoms are prepared initially in a coherent superposition of the upper and lower levels, and we derive the master equation for the field density operator by treating the interaction of the laser field with many active atoms simultaneously. It is shown that the photon-number distribution can be exactly Poissonian. The laser operation is analyzed in terms of the Fokker-Planck equation for the laser field. Both the intensity and phase diffusion coefficients are phase sensitive and, for stable laser operation, become much smaller than those of an ordinary laser. Consequently, the injected atomic coherence reduces both the photon-number noise and phase noise simultaneously. The intensity diffusion coefficient can vanish exactly, and at the same time the phase diffusion coefficient can become very small. This leads to spontaneous-emission noise quenching in the photon-number distribution, and the laser field can become very close to a coherent state. A scheme to generate the proper form of the initial atomic coherence necessary for the quantum noise quenching is proposed and analyzed.
A fully quantum-mechanical theory of bistable inversionless lasers is developed by generalizing the Scully-Lamb laser theory to this kind of laser systems. By converting the quantum master equation of the system into a Fokker-Planck equation, we obtain the steady-state properties and the fluctuation properties of the laser field for both coherently and incoherently injected atomic systems. It is shown that both the intensity and phase fluctuations of the laser system with coherent atomic injection are reduced corresponding to their counterpart of the incoherent atomic injection. The phase noise of bistable inversionless lasers can be quenched down to the vacuum-noise level for both atomic injections.
We develop a nonlinear theory of a two-photon correlated-spontaneous-emission laser (CEL) by using an effective interaction Hamiltonian for a two-level system coupled by a two-photon transition. Assuming that the active atoms are prepared initially in a coherent superposition of two atomic levels involved in the two-photon transition, we derive a master equation for the field-density operator by using our quantum theory for coherently pumped lasers. The steady-state properties of the two-photon CEL are studied by converting the field master equation into a Fokker-Planck equation for the antinormal-ordering Q representation of the field-density operator. Because of the injected atomic coherence, the drift and diffusion coefficients become phase sensitive. This leads to laser phase locking and an extra two-photon CEL gain. The laser field can build up from a vacuum in the no-population-inversion region, in contrast to an ordinary two-photon laser for which triggering is needed. We find an approximate steady-state solution of the Q representation for the laser field, which consists of two identical peaks of elliptical type. We calculate the phase variance and, for any given mean photon number, obtain the minimum variance in the phase quadrature as a function of the initial atomic variables. Squeezing of the quantum noise in the phase quadrature is found and it exhibits the following features: (1) it is possible only when the laser intensity is smaller than a certain value; (2) it becomes most significant for small mean photon number, which is achievable in the no-population-inversion region; and (3) a maximum of 50% squeezing can be asymptotically approached in the small laser intensity limit. As a by-product we also study the ordinary two-photon laser and find, e.g., photon-number variance and laser linewidth.