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Optical precursors in the transient response of excitons in GaAs

Jaak Aaviksoo, J. Kühl, Klaus Ploog

Published May 21, 1990• 0 citations
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Abstract

The appearance of precursors at pulse propagation in a dispersive medium was predicted in 1914.1 Precursors were detected experimentally for the propagation of microwave pulses in waveguides,2 whereas observation of optical precursors has not been reported so far. Experimental pulse propagation studies in the optical domain have revealed severe pulse velocity reduction near the material resonances, which has been interpreted in the framework of group velocity.3

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Observation of optical precursors at pulse propagation in GaAs

Jaak Aaviksoo, J. Kühl, Klaus Ploog

We have observed optical precursors by studying propagation of ultrashort optical pulses with a steeply rising and an exponentially decaying trailing edge through a 0.2-\ensuremath{\mu}m-thick GaAs crystal near the exciton resonance. The appearance of a fast pulse front---the precursor---independent of the detuning with respect to the resonance, was accompanied by a delayed main pulse. The delay of the main pulse varies with detuning in according with theoretical predictions.

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Observability of optical precursors

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Coherent transients: optical precursors and 0π pulses

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We discuss the transient effects associated with short-pulse propagation in a linearly dispersive medium by comparing optical precursors with 0π pulses. The classical and quantum effects were, in the past, treated independently due to the different time scales. Using results from recent studies [Phys. Rev. Lett.96, 143901 (2006)] as well as the discussions by Varoquaux et al. [Phys. Rev. B.34, 7617 (1989)] and Bürck [Hyperfine Interact. 123, 483 (1999)], we show analytically that precursors and 0π pulses describe the same physical phenomenon. We also show that most published results of transient pulse propagation can be expressed using one overarching equation. Finally, we give a physical interpretation of the analogy between precursors and 0π pulses as a medium-impulse response using a Green's function.

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OPTICAL PRECURSOR IN EXCITON RESONANT REGION

M. SAKAI, R. Nakahara, J. Kawase +2 more

We performed pulse-propagation experiments at the Z 3 -exciton resonance in CuCl and observed optical precursors. From the comparison between experimental results and numerical calculations, we obtained the conditions for a clear observation of a precursor in the propagation of a pulse with a finite spectral width.

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Comment on "Direct Observation of Optical Precursors in a Region of Anomalous Dispersion"

B. Macke, Bernard Ségard

We show that the optical transients recently read as "Sommerfeld-Brillouin precursors" by Jeong, Dawes and Gauthier are not identifiable with optical precursors (unless one considers that any coherent transient propagating in a dilute medium at the velocity c is an optical precursor) and that they can be interpreted in very simple physical terms.

arXiv:physics/0605039•May 4, 2006•5 citations

OPTICAL PRECURSOR IN EXCITON RESONANT REGION

M. SAKAI, R. Nakahara, J. Kawase +2 more

We performed pulse-propagation experiments at the Z 3 -exciton resonance in CuCl and observed optical precursors. From the comparison between experimental results and numerical calculations, we obtained the conditions for a clear observation of a precursor in the propagation of a pulse with a finite spectral width.

Molecular crystals and liquid crystals science and technology. Section B, Nonlinear optics/Molecular crystals and liquid crystals scienceand technology. Section B, Nonlinear optics/Nonlinear optics•Jan 1, 2002•0 citations
The appearance of precursors at pulse propagation in a dispersive medium was predicted in 1914.1 Precursors were detected experimentally for the propagation of microwave pulses in waveguides,2 whereas observation of optical precursors has not been reported so far. Experimental pulse propagation studies in the optical domain have revealed severe pulse velocity reduction near the material resonances, which has been interpreted in the framework of group velocity.3
The appearance of optical precursors in the transient response of linear dielectric media is elucidated by combining temporal and spectral analysis. Numerical calculations show that it is feasible to detect experimentally the precursors in the transient responses of excitonic resonances to picosecond excitation. A novel experiment is proposed in which precursors are spatially separated from the main part of the signal in a thin-prism sample. Some features of the transients in reflection are analyzed.
We discuss the transient effects associated with short-pulse propagation in a linearly dispersive medium by comparing optical precursors with 0π pulses. The classical and quantum effects were, in the past, treated independently due to the different time scales. Using results from recent studies [Phys. Rev. Lett.96, 143901 (2006)] as well as the discussions by Varoquaux et al. [Phys. Rev. B.34, 7617 (1989)] and Bürck [Hyperfine Interact. 123, 483 (1999)], we show analytically that precursors and 0π pulses describe the same physical phenomenon. We also show that most published results of transient pulse propagation can be expressed using one overarching equation. Finally, we give a physical interpretation of the analogy between precursors and 0π pulses as a medium-impulse response using a Green's function.