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IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics

Self-induced heterodyne: The interaction of a frequency-swept pulse with a resonant system

Joshua E. Rothenberg

Published Jan 1, 1986• 20 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The behavior of a pulse whose frequency sweeps through the resonance of a linear system, although first studied in spin resonance, is widely applicable to many wave phenomena. A frequency-swept optical pulse transmitted through a resonant medium develops intensity oscillations, which are the result of heterodyning the input pulse with the field radiated by the resonant system. This self-induced heterodyne signal allows the determination of the relative phase between the input pulse and the single frequency field radiated by the resonant system. A simple approximate model which very accurately describes the time evolution of the output pulse is given a physical and mathematical basis. Results for the optically thin case are extended to include the effects of propagation, revealing phenomena which have no spin-resonance analogy.

DOI
10.1109/jqe.1986.1072857

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Izvestiya VUZ Applied Nonlinear Dynamics•Nov 21, 1995•0 citations
The behavior of a pulse whose frequency sweeps through the resonance of a linear system, although first studied in spin resonance, is widely applicable to many wave phenomena. A frequency-swept optical pulse transmitted through a resonant medium develops intensity oscillations, which are the result of heterodyning the input pulse with the field radiated by the resonant system. This self-induced heterodyne signal allows the determination of the relative phase between the input pulse and the single frequency field radiated by the resonant system. A simple approximate model which very accurately describes the time evolution of the output pulse is given a physical and mathematical basis. Results for the optically thin case are extended to include the effects of propagation, revealing phenomena which have no spin-resonance analogy.
The optical density of a resonant medium significantly affects the output signal in time resolved nonlinear optical interactions. The resonant interaction with a medium reshapes any propagating short pulse, and the mutual interaction of several such pulses, as in four-wave mixing, must be treated self-consistently. We present a theoretical framework for the proper handling of the propagation of all pulses, input as well as generated, in the small area limit. For optically thick resonant absorbers, negative time delay signals are observed, and the apparent decay rate of the induced polarization is faster than the rate observed for thin samples. We experimentally measure degenerate four-wave mixing in an atomic medium as an example, and demonstrate the quality of the theoretical model by the excellent fit to measured signals over several orders of magnitude. The improved understanding enables us to provide a simple, but surprisingly accurate, estimate for the apparent decay rate in homogeneously broadened optically thick media: If the absorption is given by \ensuremath{\alpha}, the propagation length is L, and the transverse relaxation time is T2{\mathit{T}}_{2}T2​, the apparent decay rate 2/Ta{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{a}}Ta​ of a time resolved four-wave mixing signal is given by 2/Ta{\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{a}}Ta​=(2/T2{\mathit{T}}_{2}T2​)(1+\ensuremath{\alpha}L/2).
For pt.I see ibid., vol.8, no.3, 339 (1975). The transient behaviour of two short optical pulses in two-photon coherent propagation is obtained by calculating numerically the coherent propagation equations which couple the two electromagnetic pulses and the atomic system in self-consistent fashion. The coherent interaction of the two different frequency pulses gives rise to lossless propagation in the absorptive medium. This description is characterized by a two-photon area theorem. Novel coherent propagation effects of peak amplification and multiple pulse breakup are found. These effects are ascribed to two-photon self-induced transparency analogous to that of a one-photon transition in a two-level system. A difference of input intensity between the two different frequency pulses yields curious modulation effects involving sharp peak amplification and marked pulse breakup for the low-intensity input. In contrast, the high-intensity input pulse displays a smooth variation with distance and time. Low-loss pulse transmission above threshold, and pulse advance and delay are found for the present case in contrast to that for one-photon self-induced transparency.
The results of theoretical research of the propagation effect of an ultrashort optical pulse under the conditions of coherent interaction with two resonant transitions are presented. One of the transitions is tuned to exact resonance with the pulse carrier frequency; the other is distanced by much more than the pulse spectral width, thus the adiabatic following approximation may be applied to it. The interaction between the pulse and the far-from-resonance transition is described by the wave equation with the nonlinear index of refraction in the form of the Lorentz function of the field amplitude. This wave equation is solved together with the Bloch equations for the exact resonant transition. The solution in the form of the stationary phase-modulated pulse is obtained, and (pi) -pulse of self-induced transparency is the special case of this solution. The obtained solution has the area under the pulse envelope less than (pi) , and with increasing the absorption coefficient of the far-from-resonance transition the pulse area decreases. The effect can be used for reducing the transparency threshold of the resonant medium below (pi) .
Investigating the behavior of an atom in response to the applied electric field when the latter frequency is in resonance with the natural frequency of the atom is an interesting subject. Near resonance, some of the most interesting optical phenomena such as dispersion, and absorption are more pronounced. Moreover, considering resonant and near resonant interaction of light with two-level atoms, uncovers fascinating physical phenomena such as area theorem and self-induced transparency describing stable pulse propagation regimes in which the pulses maintain their identity. Existence of these optical structures in on-resonance optical media has not been investigated in detail. In this thesis, the on-resonance interaction of optical field with atoms is considered and the formation of several novel self-similar and kink waves in linear and nonlinear resonant media is discovered and theoretically explored. First, self-similar pulse formation in homogeneous broadened linear amplifiers in a vicinity of an optical resonance is analyzed. It is demonstrated that the self-similar pulses serve as universal asymptotics of any near resonance short pulses propagating in coherent linear amplifiers. Second, ultrashort self-similar pulse propagation in coherent linear absorbers near optical resonance is investigated. Third, existence of self-similar optical waves with kink structure in resonant optical systems is discovered. Fourth, it is found that self-induced transparency quadratic solitons are realizable in the media with quadratic optical nonlinearities, doped with resonant impurities. Finally, stable spatial similaritons supported by homogeneous conservative optical media with quintic nonlinearities are explored. To experimentally realize the presented results, physical models are presented for all systems under consideration. The stability of the proposed near resonance optical systems is demonstrated through a series of numerical case studies.
Theoretical research of propagation effect of ultrashort optical pulse under conditions of coherent interaction with two resonant transitions simultaneously is presented. One of the transitions is tuned in exact resonance with pulse carrier frequency; the other is distanced much more than spectral pulse width, thus the adiabatic following approximation may be applied. Interaction between the pulse and far-resonant transition is described by wave equation with nonlinear index of refraction in the form of Lorentz function for field amplitude. This wave equation is solved together with Bloch equations for the exact resonant transition. The solution in the form of stationary phase-modulated pulse is obtained, and 2π-pulse of self-induced - transparency is the special case of this solution. The obtained solution has a square under pulse envelope less than 2π, and with increasing of far-resonant transition absorption coefficient the pulse square decreases. The effect can be used for reducing of the transparency threshold of the resonant medium below pi.