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Optics Letters

Subdiffraction propagation of images using saturated absorption of optical transition

Tarak Nath Dey, G. S. Agarwal

Published Oct 8, 2009• 21 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We show how well-developed saturated absorption spectroscopy could be adopted for subdiffraction propagation of optical images. We employ pump beams with appropriate spatial profiles that produce controllable inhomogeneous absorption and dispersion of the medium. We discuss advantages of using super-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian pump beams.

DOI
10.1364/ol.34.003199

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We show how well-developed saturated absorption spectroscopy could be adopted for subdiffraction propagation of optical images. We employ pump beams with appropriate spatial profiles that produce controllable inhomogeneous absorption and dispersion of the medium. We discuss advantages of using super-Gaussian and Laguerre-Gaussian pump beams.
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We develop models for the propagation of intense pulses in solid state media which can have either saturated absorption or reverse absorption. We model subluminal propagation in ruby and superluminal propagation in alexandrite as three and four level systems, respectively, coupled to Maxwell's equations. We present results well beyond the traditional pump-probe approach and explain the experiments of Bigelow et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 113903 (2003)]Science 301, 200 (2003)]] on solid state materials.
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We proposed an all-optical imaging technique based on saturated absorption spectroscopy in an atomic vapor. The atoms are driven by a counter-propagating strong pump laser on a transition which is probed by a comparatively weak probe laser. We show that the different orders of Hermite-Gaussian beam carried by pump laser can be efficiently imaged onto a Gaussian-shaped probe laser within a Rayleigh length. The feature size of transmitted probe beam is reduced by a factor 4 when compared to the original pump beam. To generalize the scheme, an arbitrary image imprinted initially on pump beam is successfully transferred onto the output probe beam. Such a method of high resolution multimode imaging may find potential applications in all-optical imaging and lithography technologies.
The line shapes of saturation spectroscopy in optically thick two-level media are calculated for atomic and molecular transitions. Line narrowing and distortion effects due to propagation are presented. For Doppler-broadened media it is shown that, due to multiphoton processes, the natural linewidth limits the ultimate narrowing that can be reached. Thus, up to ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{0}L=20,$ only when the rate-equation approximation is valid subhomogeneous linewidths are expected.