An atom, bounded to the surface of a crystal; absorbs photons from a strong incident laser field and subsequently emits phonons into the solid. In this paper we study the influence of the laser linewidth on this photon–phonon conversion process. The appearance of coherences obscures the interpretation of the equation of motion in terms of transition rates and prohibits the derivation of a master equation in the transient region. The absorbed energy from the driving field, which is assumed to be resonant with a set of two levels only, results from the work done by the external field on the transition dipole. In the steady state, the energy absorption from the radiation field equals the energy emission in the phonon field. It is shown that in this long-time limit the coherences can be expressed in terms of the populations, and hence the system is again described by a masterlike equation. Specific aspects of the finite laser bandwidth are pointed out.
A coated surface of a crystal is irradiated by intense infrared light. The optically active atomic bonds absorb photons from the laser field, and the subsequent spontaneous decay goes together with emissions of phonons into the crystal. This photon phonon conversion results in an energy flux into the crystal. An equation for this flux is derived from the master equation for the level populations of the dressed atomic states. The saturation limit is discussed, and the general theory is illustrated with two examples. Furthermore, it is outlined with qualitative arguments that quantum yield of photodesorption is not sensitive to the laser power. Keywords: Laser heating; Transparent crystal; VIA Adsorbed atoms; Photon phonon conversion; Master equation; photodesorption.
The irradiation by infrared laser light of an atom adsorbed on the surface of a harmonic crystal is considered. The dynamic coupling between the atom (its motion) and the substrate degrees of freedom (phonon field) in the presence of a confining potential well (van der Waals bond between atom and crystal) gives rise to thermal relaxation of this adbond configuration. Both the atom and the substrate are assumed to be transparent, but the bond is allowed to have non-vanishing dipole-moment matrix elements, which couple the external field to the adsorbate. The equation of motion for the reduced adbond density operator is obtained with reservoir theory, and the relaxation constants are expressed in properties of the crystal. With a similar method, the spectral profile for absorption of weak radiation is derived. Subsequently, the illumination by a strong finite-linewidth laser field which is in close resonance with a single transition of the adbond is examined. The optical Bloch equations in operator form are derived and applied to study the process of laser heating of the crystal. It is pointed out how this mechanism can be understood as resulting from (multi)photon-phonon conversion reactions which are mediated by the adbond.
A coated surface of a crystal is irradiated by intense infrared light. The optically active atomic bonds absorb photons from the laser field, and the subsequent spontaneous decay goes together with emissions of phonons into the crystal. This photon-to-phonon conversion results in an energy flux into the crystal. An equation for this flux is derived from the master equation for the level populations of the dressed atomic states. The saturation limit is discussed, and the general theory is illustrated with two examples. Furthermore, it is outlined with qualitative arguments that the quantum yield of photodesorption is not sensitive to the laser power.
Adsorbed atoms on the surface of a harmonic lattice are immersed in a strong laser field. The optical Bloch equations are derived, which include the thermal relaxation and the coherent excitation of the adbond. This is accomplished by a transformation to dressed states, which diagonalizes the interaction with the laser. The single-phonon couplings are then understood as transitions between dressed states. The radiative contributions for arbitrarily strong fields are obtained in the master equation, and it is shown that the coherences with respect to the dressed states decay exponentially, due to the phonon relaxation. General properties of the competing phonon-induced redistribution and optical excitation of the level populations are presented, and exemplified by an explicit elaboration of a three-level system. The results are amenable to analytical evaluation once the interaction potential is prescribed, and extensions of the approach to include multiphonon processes are straightforward.
The material metrics for optimal laser cooling of ion-doped solids are derived using atomic and molecular dynamics properties of the constituents. The anti-Stokes process is modeled as an optical phonon coupling of the bound electron, followed by a photon absorption. The transition dipole moment is estimated using a simplified charge-displacement model and the Judd--Ofelt theory of rare-earth ions both suggesting that transitions with high-energy gaps and similar angular momentum states should be used. The electron-phonon coupling is interpreted as a derivative of electronic energy with respect to displacement of the nearest neighboring ligands whose stretching mode frequency is approximated using the molecular data. The Debye-Gaussian model is used for the phonon density of states of diatomic crystal. Then, the Fermi golden rule is used for photon-induced, phonon-assisted electronic transition probability and applied to the cooling rate equation by defining a phonon-assisted transition dipole moment. Based on the material metrics, an example blend is investigated for its cooling performance and a general guide is proposed for selection of better performing laser cooling hosts. Furthermore, the cooling rate limits are discussed and three distinct characteristic times are identified with the photon-induced, phonon-assisted transition time controlling the rate. The metrics guide the selection of host materials for optimal cooling, and predict a noticeable increase in the absorption rate when using a blend of cation atoms.
We present a formalism to analyze the effects of collisions and intramolecular energy transfer and dephasing processes (
T1 and
T2 relaxation) on level-population dynamics and unimolecular decay of laser-driven gas molecules. Utilizing a Boltzmann or optical Bloch equation for the density matrix to describe laser excitation of a relaxing multilevel absorber, we develop a generalized master equation (GME) to describe the dynamics of level population evolution for multilevel absorbers having arbitrary numbers of quantum levels
N. Because the resulting level-population equations explicitly retain phase memory, the effect of complete or partial phase-coherent driving or incoherent driving by the laser field are all included within the GME solutions. The formalism provides straightforward means to calculate time-dependent solutions for arbitrary
N, where a single expression is valid on transient, post transient, approach to steady state, and steady-state time scales. We illustrate the behavior of these solutions for the special case of three- and eight-level systems, but the method is not restricted with regard to number of levels. In both this and the following paper, we use specific examples and general arguments to show that an ordinary master equation (OME) is invalid even under apparently favorable conditions including saturating field strengths. We demonstrate that, for an
N-level absorber with given coupling elements, there are
2N [or
2(N+1)] independent saturation solutions and that special conditions on the relaxation times are required to produce the ordinary equal-population solution. Explicit forms for the steady-state radiative-transition matrix $W(\ensuremath{\lambda}=0)$ are derived for arbitrary
N, and general arguments are given to show that the correct description of the dynamics given by the GME results from matrix singularities in $W(\ensuremath{\lambda}=0)$ which can never occur in an OME or similar rate equations.