Mixing of Optical and Matter Waves

Hong Yuan Ling

Li Deng, E. W. Hagley, Jiping Wen +7 more

Yuping Huang

Daniel Pertot, Bryce Gadway, Dominik Schneble

Yan Li, Chengjie Zhu, W. R. Garrett +2 more

The realization of atomic quantum gases has brought out surprising effects that have no correspondence in nonlinear optics with thermal gases, presenting intriguing and exciting challenges to the research discipline of nonlinear optics which has matured since the invention of the laser. Here, we show an unexpected optical wave-mixing gain cancellation effect in a quantum gas that restricts an, otherwise, strongly enhanced backward-propagating light-matter wave-mixing process. This results in a wave-mixing induced transparency and a nonhyperbolic quasi-matter-wave soliton that opens new research opportunities in hydrodynamic fluid research of degenerate quantum gases, such as phonon scattering in a two-dimensional sonic black hole horizon.

Chengjie Zhu, Yan Li, L. Deng

Highly efficient, optical-degenerate wave-mixing involving bosonic quantum gas is studied using a crossed-beam geometry. We show a very large enhancement due to nonlinear gain from a matter-optical wave-mixing process involving four photons and two matter-wave excitations. Under suitable conditions with a red-detuned pump field this optically degenerate, four-photon process can be stronger than the traditional two-photon inelastic light-scattering mechanism, leading to strong nonlinear growth of the observed matter-wave scattering. This optically degenerate four-wave mixing is independent of other enhancements arising from bosonic stimulations. More importantly, this highly efficient, backward degenerate wave generation and growth process does not have a correspondence in thermal gases in nonlinear optics.