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Physical Review A

Steady-state pulses and superradiance in short-wavelength, swept-gain amplifiers

R. Bonifacio, F. A. Hopf, Pierre Meystre, Marlan O. Scully

Published Dec 1, 1975• 64 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The steady-state behavior of amplifiers in which the excitation is swept at the speed of light is discussed in the semiclassical approximation. In the present work we examine the case where the decay time of the population is comparable to that of the polarization. Pulse propagation is shown to obey a generalized sine-Gordon equation which contains the effects of atomic relaxations. The analytical expression of the steady-state pulses (SSP) gives two threshold conditions. In the region of limited gain the SSP is a broad pulse with small area which can be obtained by small signal theory. In the second region of high gain the SSP is the superradiant $\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulse. Its pulse power is not limited as in usual superradiant theory because, as we show, for a swept excitation the cooperation-length limit does not exist.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.12.2568

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J. C. MacGillivray, Michael S. Feld

This paper augments previous theoretical descriptions of superradiance in an extended optically thick medium by giving expressions which limit the length and density of a high-gain system which can superradiate as a whole, or equivalently, the shortness of its output radiation pulses. Limits arising from experimental conditions such as finite inversion time, finite decay and dephasing times, finite transit time (cooperation length), feedback, diffraction, and Fresnel number not approximately one, are discussed. Modifications to the simple analytical expressions for the output radiation of the superradiant system due to each of these effects are described in detail. Detailed computer results are also given.

Physical Review A•Mar 1, 1981•64 citations
The steady-state behavior of amplifiers in which the excitation is swept at the speed of light is discussed in the semiclassical approximation. In the present work we examine the case where the decay time of the population is comparable to that of the polarization. Pulse propagation is shown to obey a generalized sine-Gordon equation which contains the effects of atomic relaxations. The analytical expression of the steady-state pulses (SSP) gives two threshold conditions. In the region of limited gain the SSP is a broad pulse with small area which can be obtained by small signal theory. In the second region of high gain the SSP is the superradiant \ensuremathπ\ensuremath{\pi}\ensuremathπ pulse. Its pulse power is not limited as in usual superradiant theory because, as we show, for a swept excitation the cooperation-length limit does not exist.
Results of numerical calculations are presented and analyzed for pulse generation and propagation in one-and two-spacial dimensions in a medium consisting of a collection of two-level atoms which are resonantly swept-excited by an impulse excitation traveling at the speed of light in the medium. The conditions imposed for the calculation in one-spacial dimension are that T1 = T2, where T1 and T2 are the single atom relaxation and dephasing times, respectively, and that the gain, g, to loss, κ , ratio g/κ >> 1 , which determines the non-linear regime for pulse evolution. In addition, we impose that T2 >> τc, where τc is the characteristic superradiance cooperation time, so that the pulse evolves from conditions appropriate for superradiant pulse generation for sufficiently small values for the propagation distance z . We report and analyze calculational results for the transient regime of pulse buildup through the asymptotic regime of large propagation distance z where the pulse generated exhibits steady-state behavior with regard to pulse area, energy and intensity profile. Additional results of computations are presented which incorporate transverse effects and diffraction using a Gaussian radial gain profile for the initial condition and under imposed conditions comparable with those of the corresponding one-spacial dimension calculations. The results of the two sets of calculations are compared and discussed. We demonstrate and give predictive requirements for swept-gain pulse evolution from the superradiant state.
The buildup of radiation from noise is considered in the case of the small-signal regime of a swept-gain amplifier with small Doppler width, of the sort indicated in recent schemes for an x-ray laser. The treatment uses the fully quantized electromagnetic field in order to take into account the spontaneous emission. The pulse is seen to grow nonexponentially with a rate that vanishes in the limit of large distances. The gain is generally much smaller than would be expected on the basis of the usual development. Many of the features normally associated with the small-signal regime of an amplifier, such as threshold conditions and spectral narrowing, are not seen. Instead we find spectral broadening, saturation, and the formation of steady states.
Results of numerical calculations are presented and analyzed for pulse generation and subsequent stabilization in large propagation distance z , for a collection of two-level absorbers which are swept-excited by an impulse inversion along the z-direction at the speed of light in the medium. The calculation is performed using the coupled Maxwell-Bloch formalism and for the conditions that T2 = T1 , T2 > ιc, g/κ > > 1, where T2 is macroscopic dipole moment dephasing time, T1 is the longitudinal relaxation time for the absorber, ιc is the characteristic superradiant cooperation time among the absorbers and g/κ is the linear gain, g , to diffraction loss, κ, ratio. Results of the calculation for nonlinear pulse evolution and propagation for one spacial dimension (planar case) is compared with the results for the comparable case where transverse mode coupling is included.
This paper augments previous theoretical descriptions of superradiance in an extended optically thick medium by giving expressions which limit the length and density of a high-gain system which can superradiate as a whole, or equivalently, the shortness of its output radiation pulses. Limits arising from experimental conditions such as finite inversion time, finite decay and dephasing times, finite transit time (cooperation length), feedback, diffraction, and Fresnel number not approximately one, are discussed. Modifications to the simple analytical expressions for the output radiation of the superradiant system due to each of these effects are described in detail. Detailed computer results are also given.