The coherent propagation of two optical short pulses through a resonant medium consisting of two three-level atoms in the configuration is investigated. A self-consisting analytical solution without steady state or adiabatic approximations is presented. The electric field in the model studied consists of two co-propagating plane waves, each of which is in near resonance with a transition in the absorber. The density matrix of two three level atoms is studied. Also, the reduced density matrices are stated. The present approach for the semiclassical treatment of resonant coherent interactions in three-level atoms represents a generalization of the Maxwell- Bloch equations for a two-level system. The Maxwell-Bloch equations reduced to the non-linear pendulum equation. The solution shows that the two pulses can propagate simultaneously without loss under some conditions about the pulses and the medium. The propagation of the two pulses through the medium without any constrains approves the self -induced transparency (SIT) phenomenon.
The problem of a light pulse propagating in a nonlinear laser medium is investigated. The electromagnetic field is treated classically and the active medium consists of thermally moving atoms which have two electronic states with independent decay constants ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{a}$ and ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{b}$ in addition to the decay constant ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ab}}$ describing the phase memory. The self-consistency requirement that the field sustained by the polarized medium be equal to the field inducing the polarization leads to coupled equations of motion for the density matrix, and equations of propagation for the electromagnetic field. Although the theory is developed for a Doppler-broadened gaseous medium, it may also be applied to a solid medium with inhomogeneous broadening. A unified treatment is given encompassing a wide range of pulse durations from cw signals to psec pulses. Continuous pumping is allowed, as well as any amount of detuning of the carrier frequency of the pulse from the atomic resonance frequency. The three independent decay constants ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{a}$, ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{b}$, and ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{\mathrm{ab}}$ provide greater flexibility than that obtained by using
T11 and
T21. The equations are solved analytically in a few specialized cases and numerically in the general case. Flow charts for accomplishing the numerical integration are given. Among the special problems considered is the apparent paradox of pulses propagating faster than the velocity of light under circumstances described by Basov et al. It is shown that this contradiction with relativity arises from the use of an unphysical initial condition.
We propose a concept of disordered resonant media, which are characterized by random variations of their parameters along the light propagation direction. In particular, a simple model of disorder considered in the paper implies random change of the density of active particles (two-level atoms). Within this model, the effect of disorder on self-induced transparency (SIT) is analyzed using numerical simulations of light pulse propagation through the medium. The transition from the SIT to localization regime is revealed as well as its dependence on the disorder level, atom density, medium thickness, and period of random variations.