Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Optics Express

Modeling of femtosecond pulse interaction with inhomogeneously broadened media using an iterative predictor corrector FDTD method

Friso Schlottau, Melinda J. Piket-May, Kelvin H. Wagner

Published Jan 10, 2005• 20 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present a one-dimensional iterative predictor-corrector finite-difference time-domain method for modeling of broadband optical pulse propagation and interaction with inhomogeneously broadened materials. The simulator is used to demonstrate two- and three-pulse photon echoes resulting from bandwidth limited pulse and matched chirp interactions with a material modeled with hundreds of equally spaced, discrete spectral lines of detuning. The results are illustrated as Bloch-sphere evolution movies.

DOI
10.1364/opex.13.000182

Related papers

Simulation of coherent responses of resonant media excited by a series of ultrashort laser pulses

Alexey Tiranov, Каримуллин Камиль Равкатович, В. В. Самарцев

A technique for the numerical simulation of coherent optical responses of the photon echo type formed in resonance media with strong inhomogeneous broadening under the action of femtosecond laser pulses is developed. This approach is based on solving the Maxwell-Bloch equations using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method without application of a fast rotating field and slowly varying envelope approximations. The method can be used to simulate coherent responses in different resonance media with a complex structure of energy levels. The technique was validated using the example of describing experiments on narrowing a photon echo pulse and femtosecond echo processing.

Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences Physics•Mar 1, 2012•1 citation

Computational Modeling of Ultrashort Pulse Propagation in Nonlinear Optical Materials

Peter M. Goorjian, Govind Prasad Agrawal

Recent progress in ultrafast technology has led to the generation of optical pulses as short as 8 fs. The propagation of such short pulses in nonlinear optical media requires new computational techniques in which the standard approximations such as the slowly-varying envelope approximation (SVEA) and rotating-wave approximation (RWA) are not made while using the Maxwell-Bloch equations [1]. Previous calculations, which used the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, found that for a a Kerr-like instantaneous nonlinearity [2] significant differences can occur when the full vector Maxwell equations are used instead of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. Recently, the FDTD method has been extended to the case of a homogeneously broadened two-level atomic system [3].

Nonlinear Optics•Jan 1, 1996•0 citations

Numerical Method and Application for Optical Maxwell-Bloch-Equations in Inhomogeneously Broadened Medium

Cheng Li, Huarong Zhang, Xiangyang Yu

An accurate and effective numerical method is presented to solve the Maxwell-Bloch equations that are used to describe the optical pulse propagation and interaction with inhomogeneously broadened two-level medium.The convergence and stability of this numerical method are proved by comparing with the analytic solutions and area theorem derived under special condition.The simulations of arbitrary conditions is discussed by employing this method and analyze the pulse evolution for different detunings,relaxation times and inhomogeneously broadened linewidthes.The established numerical method provides a good way to have further study about the coherent interaction of short optical pulses with resonant mediums,and can be used to solve the corrections of Maxwell-Bloch equations.

Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni•Jul 25, 2009•0 citations

Propagation and amplification of ultrashort light pulses in a resonant two-level medium: finite-difference time-domain analysis

A.V. Tarasishin, Sergey A. Magnitskii, Aleksei M. Zheltikov

Propagation and amplification of an ultrashort laser pulse in a two-level medium is numerically investigated with the use of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) procedure simultaneously solving Maxwell and Schrodinger equations with no assumptions characteristic of slowly varying envelope approximation. Comparison of the results of FDTD numerical simulations with the predictions of the pulse area theorem has demonstrated that the developed numerical procedure provides an adequate description of pulse evolution in a two-level medium. Amplification of ultrashort light pulses in a two-level medium is analyzed. Two methods of improving the gain of ultrashort pulses in a two-level medium by modulating the spatial distribution of dipole moments of resonant transitions and using initially chirped frequency-detuned pulses are explored.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•May 31, 2002•0 citations

Simulation of a spectral inhomogeneous broadening

V. V. Kozlov, N. N. Rosanov

The standard approach that is used to simulate effects of inhomogeneous spectral broadening in a medium consisting of two- or multilevel systems is to calculate the microscopic polarization (the dipole moment of an individual system) as a function of the frequency detuning and further to average this quantity over detunings with corresponding weights. This just leads to the macroscopic polarization that appears in Maxwell’s equations of electrodynamics of continuous media. Here, we study and develop an alternative method that has been recently proposed by N.V. Vysotina, N.N. Rozanov, and V.E. Semenov (Opt. Spectrosc. 106 (5), 713 (2009)) for calculation of the macroscopic polarization and that has been aimed at solving problems of computational quantum optics. In this approach, the frequency detuning is considered as a stochastic function of coordinates; in one-dimensional problems, of longitudinal coordinate z . At each step of evolution, the microscopic polarization is calculated for a randomly chosen fixed value of the detuning. Therefore, calculating the macroscopic polarization does not need an additional averaging over detunings; it is replaced by averaging over spatial coordinates, which is naturally performed when describing the radiation propagation through an ensemble of quantum systems. This radically reduces the amount of computations, especially in the context of the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method.

Optics and Spectroscopy•Jun 1, 2014•2 citations

Ultrafast pulse interactions with two-level atoms

Richard W. Ziolkowski, John M. Arnold, Daniel Marc Gogny

An iterative predictor-corrector finite-difference time-domain method is used to solve the semiclassical Maxwell-Bloch system numerically without invoking any of the standard approximations such as the rotating-wave approximation. This approach permits a more exact study of self-induced transparency effects in a two-level atom. In addition to recovering the standard results, for instance, for \ensuremath{\pi}, 2\ensuremath{\pi}, and 4\ensuremath{\pi} pulses, several features in the results appear at the zeros of the driving pulse, where its time derivatives are maximum. Several ultrafast-pulse examples demonstrate that time-derivative-driven nonlinearities have a significant impact on the time evolution of a two-level atom system. Moreover, typical small-signal gain results are also obtained with our Maxwell-Bloch simulator. We illustrate that these time-derivative effects can be used to design an ultrafast, single-cycle pump pulse that completely inverts the two-level atom population. A pump-probe signal set is then used to illustrate gain in the probe signal.

Physical Review A•Oct 1, 1995•346 citations
We present a one-dimensional iterative predictor-corrector finite-difference time-domain method for modeling of broadband optical pulse propagation and interaction with inhomogeneously broadened materials. The simulator is used to demonstrate two- and three-pulse photon echoes resulting from bandwidth limited pulse and matched chirp interactions with a material modeled with hundreds of equally spaced, discrete spectral lines of detuning. The results are illustrated as Bloch-sphere evolution movies.
A technique for the numerical simulation of coherent optical responses of the photon echo type formed in resonance media with strong inhomogeneous broadening under the action of femtosecond laser pulses is developed. This approach is based on solving the Maxwell-Bloch equations using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method without application of a fast rotating field and slowly varying envelope approximations. The method can be used to simulate coherent responses in different resonance media with a complex structure of energy levels. The technique was validated using the example of describing experiments on narrowing a photon echo pulse and femtosecond echo processing.
Recent progress in ultrafast technology has led to the generation of optical pulses as short as 8 fs. The propagation of such short pulses in nonlinear optical media requires new computational techniques in which the standard approximations such as the slowly-varying envelope approximation (SVEA) and rotating-wave approximation (RWA) are not made while using the Maxwell-Bloch equations [1]. Previous calculations, which used the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, found that for a a Kerr-like instantaneous nonlinearity [2] significant differences can occur when the full vector Maxwell equations are used instead of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. Recently, the FDTD method has been extended to the case of a homogeneously broadened two-level atomic system [3].
An accurate and effective numerical method is presented to solve the Maxwell-Bloch equations that are used to describe the optical pulse propagation and interaction with inhomogeneously broadened two-level medium.The convergence and stability of this numerical method are proved by comparing with the analytic solutions and area theorem derived under special condition.The simulations of arbitrary conditions is discussed by employing this method and analyze the pulse evolution for different detunings,relaxation times and inhomogeneously broadened linewidthes.The established numerical method provides a good way to have further study about the coherent interaction of short optical pulses with resonant mediums,and can be used to solve the corrections of Maxwell-Bloch equations.
Propagation and amplification of an ultrashort laser pulse in a two-level medium is numerically investigated with the use of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) procedure simultaneously solving Maxwell and Schrodinger equations with no assumptions characteristic of slowly varying envelope approximation. Comparison of the results of FDTD numerical simulations with the predictions of the pulse area theorem has demonstrated that the developed numerical procedure provides an adequate description of pulse evolution in a two-level medium. Amplification of ultrashort light pulses in a two-level medium is analyzed. Two methods of improving the gain of ultrashort pulses in a two-level medium by modulating the spatial distribution of dipole moments of resonant transitions and using initially chirped frequency-detuned pulses are explored.
The standard approach that is used to simulate effects of inhomogeneous spectral broadening in a medium consisting of two- or multilevel systems is to calculate the microscopic polarization (the dipole moment of an individual system) as a function of the frequency detuning and further to average this quantity over detunings with corresponding weights. This just leads to the macroscopic polarization that appears in Maxwell’s equations of electrodynamics of continuous media. Here, we study and develop an alternative method that has been recently proposed by N.V. Vysotina, N.N. Rozanov, and V.E. Semenov (Opt. Spectrosc. 106 (5), 713 (2009)) for calculation of the macroscopic polarization and that has been aimed at solving problems of computational quantum optics. In this approach, the frequency detuning is considered as a stochastic function of coordinates; in one-dimensional problems, of longitudinal coordinate z . At each step of evolution, the microscopic polarization is calculated for a randomly chosen fixed value of the detuning. Therefore, calculating the macroscopic polarization does not need an additional averaging over detunings; it is replaced by averaging over spatial coordinates, which is naturally performed when describing the radiation propagation through an ensemble of quantum systems. This radically reduces the amount of computations, especially in the context of the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method.
An iterative predictor-corrector finite-difference time-domain method is used to solve the semiclassical Maxwell-Bloch system numerically without invoking any of the standard approximations such as the rotating-wave approximation. This approach permits a more exact study of self-induced transparency effects in a two-level atom. In addition to recovering the standard results, for instance, for \ensuremath{\pi}, 2\ensuremath{\pi}, and 4\ensuremath{\pi} pulses, several features in the results appear at the zeros of the driving pulse, where its time derivatives are maximum. Several ultrafast-pulse examples demonstrate that time-derivative-driven nonlinearities have a significant impact on the time evolution of a two-level atom system. Moreover, typical small-signal gain results are also obtained with our Maxwell-Bloch simulator. We illustrate that these time-derivative effects can be used to design an ultrafast, single-cycle pump pulse that completely inverts the two-level atom population. A pump-probe signal set is then used to illustrate gain in the probe signal.