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Physical Review A

Transient lasing without inversion via forbidden and virtual transitions

Luqi Yuan, Da‐Wei Wang, Anatoly A. Svidzinsky, Hui Xia, Olga A. Kocharovskaya, Alexei V. Sokolov, George R. Welch, S. Suckewer, Marlan O. Scully

Published Jan 13, 2014• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Lasing without inversion (LWI) in the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) has been the focus of recent research of our Princeton/Texas group. Because of the restriction imposed on the decay rates associated with the usual LWI schemes, it is difficult to transfer the physics gleaned from previous experiments to the XUV. However, with the advent of tunable-ultrashort-high-power laser pulses, we find that the possibility of transient LWI holds promise for a different LWI paradigm in which the lasing is based on forbidden and/or virtual transitions. It is the purpose of the present paper to present simple but (hopefully) convincing arguments and suggest realistic experiments to stimulate interest in this idea.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.89.013814

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Lasing without inversion (LWI) in the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) has been the focus of recent research of our Princeton/Texas group. Because of the restriction imposed on the decay rates associated with the usual LWI schemes, it is difficult to transfer the physics gleaned from previous experiments to the XUV. However, with the advent of tunable-ultrashort-high-power laser pulses, we find that the possibility of transient LWI holds promise for a different LWI paradigm in which the lasing is based on forbidden and/or virtual transitions. It is the purpose of the present paper to present simple but (hopefully) convincing arguments and suggest realistic experiments to stimulate interest in this idea.
It has been known for two decades that coherence can yield lasing without inversion (LWI), which could be useful for making lasers at shorter wavelength. However, excitation of extreme ultraviolet and x-ray atomic transitions typically requires a plasma medium with rapid collisions, which destroy atomic coherence. Here we demonstrate LWI on a time scale shorter than the decoherence time. We show that in such a regime LWI is possible in a V -scheme with a strong coherent drive on the low-frequency transition and obtain an analytical expression for the gain of the laser pulse at high frequency. We propose an experiment in which such LWI can be realized in He plasma.
In standard lasers, light amplification requires population inversion between an upper and a lower state to break the reciprocity between absorption and stimulated emission. However, in a medium prepared in a specific superposition state, quantum interference may fully suppress absorption while leaving stimulated emission intact, opening the possibility of lasing without inversion (LWI) [1] . Conventional LWI schemes generally strive to maintain a specific phase relationship between the lower-lying states that carry most of the population. We present a scheme [2] , [3] , that does not follow this tradition. It uses only the natural dynamics of a multi-level quantum system and requires no coherence between the excited and the lower electronic states; effectively, LWI comes "for free".
Lasing without inversion (LWI) is investigated from a nonlinear dynamics point of view for an atomic system with three coupled J = 0-1 transitions. The driving and generated fields couple two of these transitions defining a double- scheme. In addition, two incoherent pump fields are acting on the system. We find that LWI can occur not only in a continuous wave regime but also in a self-pulsing regime. A clear physical interpretation of the origin of this self-pulsing LWI is given. We obtain analytically the threshold driving field intensity needed to achieve both continuous wave and self-pulsing LWI emission. For large enough cavity losses, the system can reach either continuous wave or self-pulsing regimes by only changing the driving field intensity.
The most commonly used lasers operate with population inversion. This requires an incoherent pumping power (from lamps, electrical discharges, etc.) that rapidly scales with the frequency of the generated laser radiation. In practice, this is the main obstacle for the operation in the continuous-wave regime of short-wavelength lasers in the UV, X-rays, etc. But lasers can also operate without population inversion using atomic coherences excited in the laser medium by coherent pumping with another laser. We present in this paper a short review of the field of lasing without inversion (LWI). In particular, we summarize the basic physics of LWI in the framework of both semiclassical theory and quantumjump formalism to describe light-matter interaction. We also review the experimental state-of-the-art in LWI. Most proof-of-principle demonstrations of LWI have used atomic vapours, so far. But recently gain without inversion (a pre-requisite for lasing) has been observed also in a technologically relevant medium: semiconductor nanostructures that can be tailored to have “artificial atom” electron states.
This review paper is devoted to amplification and lasing without population inversion involving atomic transitions in gas media. We start by discussing the main motivation in inversionless lasing research, namely, the generation of short-wavelength laser light. Then, we review the basic physics of inversionless lasing in two-level and, eventually, in three- and multilevel atomic configurations. Finally, we summarize the current state of the art of LWI experiments and indicate the main difficulties with respect to short-wavelength laser generation.