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New developments in phase conjugation in resonant vapors: Nondegenerate four-wave mixing and self-oscillating PC cavity

Pierre Simoneau, S. Le Boiteux, Daniel Bloch, M. Ducloy, J. R. Rios Leite

Published Jun 9, 1986• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

One knows that in three-level saturation spectroscopy the signal is generally related both to a population change process, induced by the saturating beam, and to a coherent process—two-photon or Raman coherence—induced by the simultaneous interaction of the saturating and probe fields. If the saturating beam couples two unpopulated states (transparent transition), a signal is still observable which originates solely from the coherent process.

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Considers phase conjugation through degenerate four-wave mixing in a Λ-type three-level system under certain simplifying assumptions, the most restrictive among them being the assumption of symmetrical detuning of the pump from the two lower lying sublevels. When compared to an absorbing resonant two-level system, it is found that significantly higher values of the phase-conjugate reflectivity are possible at pump intensities well below saturation provided the sublevel splitting is less than a homogeneous linewidth. The physical mechanism responsible for phase conjugation is coherent population trapping arising from two-photon-induced atomic coherence between the two sublevels.

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Nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) has been used for wavelength conversion of optical information.1 In such experiments, two beams F-P (frequency ω1) intersect in a nonlinear medium with a small crossing angle θ (≈ 10 mrad), while a third beam B {frequency ω2) is nearly counterpro- pagating to F [Fig. 1(a)]. This can be viewed as real-time holography with frequency conversion.1 However, the physics differ considerably when the medium is transparent at frequency ω1, as there is no optically induced grating. This occurs when FWM is based on resonant two-photon, ω1 + ω2, absorption (frequencies ω1 and ω2 being resonant with a cascade three-level system and ω1 coupling unpopulated excited states). One interesting feature is that the two-photon coherence is nearly Doppler-free and does not depend much on the θ angle.

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We present a theoretical analysis of high-frequency optical heterodyne saturation spectroscopy in Doppler-broadened coupled three-level systems. The saturating beam, which is assumed to be amplitude modulated at frequency δ (double-sideband suppressed carrier amplitude modulation) is resonant for one of the transitions. Through non-degenerate four-wave mixing processes, this modulation is transferred to a probe beam, resonant for the coupled transition. Saturating and probe fields may be either co-propagating or counter-propagating. The lineshape of the probe modulation is analysed via a third-order perturbation expansion of the atomic density matrix with respect to the incident field amplitudes. The resulting signal is integrated over velocities, in the Doppler limit approximation. Both population saturation effects and coherent (Raman-type, or two-photon) processes contribute to the signal. The various contributions appear as Lorentzian-type resonance doublets. We show that, in the absence of relaxation processes (collisional dephasing, or radiative cascades), destructive interferences between population saturation and coherent two-photon processes are responsible for the disappearance of one resonance doublet. Phase-interrupting collisions are thus predicted to lead to the existence of a « pressure-induced extra-resonance » (PIER) doublet, which could yield information on collisional processes in the impact regime. The properties of the predicted PIER doublets are analysed in relation with other types of PIER signals studied in four-wave mixing, and in time-resolved saturation spectroscopy.

Journal de physique•Jan 1, 1986•10 citations
One knows that in three-level saturation spectroscopy the signal is generally related both to a population change process, induced by the saturating beam, and to a coherent process—two-photon or Raman coherence—induced by the simultaneous interaction of the saturating and probe fields. If the saturating beam couples two unpopulated states (transparent transition), a signal is still observable which originates solely from the coherent process.
Considers phase conjugation through degenerate four-wave mixing in a Λ-type three-level system under certain simplifying assumptions, the most restrictive among them being the assumption of symmetrical detuning of the pump from the two lower lying sublevels. When compared to an absorbing resonant two-level system, it is found that significantly higher values of the phase-conjugate reflectivity are possible at pump intensities well below saturation provided the sublevel splitting is less than a homogeneous linewidth. The physical mechanism responsible for phase conjugation is coherent population trapping arising from two-photon-induced atomic coherence between the two sublevels.
Nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) has been used for wavelength conversion of optical information.1 In such experiments, two beams F-P (frequency ω1) intersect in a nonlinear medium with a small crossing angle θ (≈ 10 mrad), while a third beam B {frequency ω2) is nearly counterpro- pagating to F [Fig. 1(a)]. This can be viewed as real-time holography with frequency conversion.1 However, the physics differ considerably when the medium is transparent at frequency ω1, as there is no optically induced grating. This occurs when FWM is based on resonant two-photon, ω1 + ω2, absorption (frequencies ω1 and ω2 being resonant with a cascade three-level system and ω1 coupling unpopulated excited states). One interesting feature is that the two-photon coherence is nearly Doppler-free and does not depend much on the θ angle.
The theory of resonant four‐wave mixing using one and two‐photon transitions is described in terms of saturation spectroscopy. Detuning the signal wave from the pump wave in the one‐photon case leads to a narrow‐band reflection spectrum, with width given by 1/T1, where T1 is the lifetime of the population difference. In the corresponding time‐domain picture (the fourth dimension), this produces a reflected pulse at least as long as T1, regardless of the signal. This time‐domain picture also leads to a novel kind of coherent transient spectroscopy. In the two‐photon case, an infinite number of levels are involved in principle, i.e., phase conjugation in infinite dimensions! In this case, two kinds of mechanisms compete in generating conjugate waves leading to two phenomena that do not occur in two‐level media: 1) a double‐peaked reflection spectrum and 2) coupled‐mode oscillation in absorbing media. In addition, due to the dynamic‐Stark shifted line center, the reflection coefficient approaches a constant value at large intensities, unlike the two‐level coefficient which bleaches to zero.
We present a theoretical analysis of high-frequency optical heterodyne saturation spectroscopy in Doppler-broadened coupled three-level systems. The saturating beam, which is assumed to be amplitude modulated at frequency δ (double-sideband suppressed carrier amplitude modulation) is resonant for one of the transitions. Through non-degenerate four-wave mixing processes, this modulation is transferred to a probe beam, resonant for the coupled transition. Saturating and probe fields may be either co-propagating or counter-propagating. The lineshape of the probe modulation is analysed via a third-order perturbation expansion of the atomic density matrix with respect to the incident field amplitudes. The resulting signal is integrated over velocities, in the Doppler limit approximation. Both population saturation effects and coherent (Raman-type, or two-photon) processes contribute to the signal. The various contributions appear as Lorentzian-type resonance doublets. We show that, in the absence of relaxation processes (collisional dephasing, or radiative cascades), destructive interferences between population saturation and coherent two-photon processes are responsible for the disappearance of one resonance doublet. Phase-interrupting collisions are thus predicted to lead to the existence of a « pressure-induced extra-resonance » (PIER) doublet, which could yield information on collisional processes in the impact regime. The properties of the predicted PIER doublets are analysed in relation with other types of PIER signals studied in four-wave mixing, and in time-resolved saturation spectroscopy.