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Physical Review Letters

Observation of the Formation of the 0π Pulse

Joshua E. Rothenberg, D. Grischkowsky, Anne C. Balant

Published Aug 6, 1984• 140 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have measured with 0.5-psec resolution the reshaping of small-area 7-psec laser pulses to $0\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses due to their passage through an optically thick sodium cell. The reshaped pulses have a picosecond oscillatory structure characteristic of $0\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulses that extends over more than 100 psec. These observations are compared in detail with the predictions of theory and good agreement is obtained

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.53.552

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Observation of the 0π Pulse

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In coherent optics the pulse area θ is defined as the total angle the atomic state vector rotates around the electric field of the resonant driving pulse. The atomic excitation remaining after passage of the pulse is determined by this angle. For example, a π/2 pulse will put the atoms in a coherent superposition of the ground and excited states, a π pulse will put the atoms in the excited state, and a 2π pulse will take the atoms to the excited state and then back to the ground state. Another type of pulse which has generated a considerable amount of theoretical interest1 but for which there has been only a few experimental investigations2 is the 0π pulse. For this pulse, the initial part of the pulse excites the atoms and then due to a phase change of π in the electric field, the latter part of the pulse takes the atoms back to the ground state. Thus, just as in self-induced transparency, the atoms are completely in the ground state after passage of the pulse. There are two ways to produce such a 0π pulse. The first is to switch the phase of the second half of the pulse by electro-optic techniques. For this method it is difficult to get the 0π pulse area to the desired accuracy. The second method is to rely on the automatic reshaping to the 0π pulse which occurs when a weak (θ(t) ≪ 1) pulse is propagated through a resonant vapor. This method will produce the 0π pulse area to any desired degree of accuracy. This fact is due to an area theorem for these weak pulses which states that the pulse area decays exponentially with the on-resonance absorption coefficient.1

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We have measured with 0.5-psec resolution the reshaping of small-area 7-psec laser pulses to 0\ensuremathπ0\ensuremath{\pi}0\ensuremathπ pulses due to their passage through an optically thick sodium cell. The reshaped pulses have a picosecond oscillatory structure characteristic of 0\ensuremathπ0\ensuremath{\pi}0\ensuremathπ pulses that extends over more than 100 psec. These observations are compared in detail with the predictions of theory and good agreement is obtained
We observe the propagation and the reshaping of low intensity (zero area) 60 fs pulses through high density atomic Cs vapor. The breakup of the pulses is measured for both resonant excitation of the Cs atoms and for laser detunings such that the atomic resonance frequency is in the wings of the pulse spectrum. The theory of 0π pulse propagation, in the extreme sharp-line limit, is extended to include both resonant and off resonant excitation. Good agreement is demonstrated between the observations and the theoretical predictions.
We observe the propagation and the reshaping of low-intensity (zero area) 60-fs pulses through high-density atomic Cs vapor. The breakup of the pulses is measured both for resonant excitation of the Cs atoms and for laser detunings such that the atomic resonance frequency is in the wings of the pulse spectrum. The theory of 0π pulse propagation in the extreme sharp-line limit is extended to include both resonant and off-resonant excitation. Good agreement is demonstrated between the observations and the theoretical predictions.
In coherent optics the pulse area θ is defined as the total angle the atomic state vector rotates around the electric field of the resonant driving pulse. The atomic excitation remaining after passage of the pulse is determined by this angle. For example, a π/2 pulse will put the atoms in a coherent superposition of the ground and excited states, a π pulse will put the atoms in the excited state, and a 2π pulse will take the atoms to the excited state and then back to the ground state. Another type of pulse which has generated a considerable amount of theoretical interest1 but for which there has been only a few experimental investigations2 is the 0π pulse. For this pulse, the initial part of the pulse excites the atoms and then due to a phase change of π in the electric field, the latter part of the pulse takes the atoms back to the ground state. Thus, just as in self-induced transparency, the atoms are completely in the ground state after passage of the pulse. There are two ways to produce such a 0π pulse. The first is to switch the phase of the second half of the pulse by electro-optic techniques. For this method it is difficult to get the 0π pulse area to the desired accuracy. The second method is to rely on the automatic reshaping to the 0π pulse which occurs when a weak (θ(t) ≪ 1) pulse is propagated through a resonant vapor. This method will produce the 0π pulse area to any desired degree of accuracy. This fact is due to an area theorem for these weak pulses which states that the pulse area decays exponentially with the on-resonance absorption coefficient.1