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Optics and Spectroscopy

Collisions of Single-Cycle and Subcycle Attosecond Light Pulses in a Nonlinear Resonant Medium

Rostislav M. Arkhipov, Mikhail V. Arkhipov, A. V. Pakhomov, D. O. Zhiguleva, Nikolay N. Rosanov

Published Apr 1, 2018• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

By numerically solving the system of Maxwell–Bloch equations, we have examined theoretically collisions of extremely short single-cycle and unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonant medium under conditions that the light interacts coherently with the medium. The dynamics of the electric field of structures of light-induced polarization and inversion difference has been considered in the situation in which pulses are overlapped in the medium. We show that the states of the medium (to the right and to the left of the overlap region of the pulses) may differ. In particular, we show that polarization waves with different characteristics can exist in the regions of the medium that are located on opposite sides of the overlap region of the pulses. These waves travel in different directions and have different spatial frequencies.

DOI
10.1134/s0030400x18040045

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By numerically solving the system of Maxwell–Bloch equations, we have examined theoretically collisions of extremely short single-cycle and unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonant medium under conditions that the light interacts coherently with the medium. The dynamics of the electric field of structures of light-induced polarization and inversion difference has been considered in the situation in which pulses are overlapped in the medium. We show that the states of the medium (to the right and to the left of the overlap region of the pulses) may differ. In particular, we show that polarization waves with different characteristics can exist in the regions of the medium that are located on opposite sides of the overlap region of the pulses. These waves travel in different directions and have different spatial frequencies.
With the coherent interaction of a sequence of extremely short light pulses with a resonant medium (when the duration of the pulses and the delays between them are shorter than the relaxation times of the population difference T1 and polarization T2 of the medium), it is possible to create spatial electromagnetically induced gratings (EMIG) of polarization and population difference in the medium, as well as their ultrafast control. The dynamics of such gratings is of interest in connection with the possibility of ultrafast control over the properties of a medium at times of the order of the pulse duration and their influence on the stability of generation of extremely short pulses in a laser with a short linear cavity. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of the system of Maxwell-Bloch equations, an unusual and interesting possibility of the appearance of narrow and alternating sections in the medium is shown and studied in detail, in which harmonic polarization waves of the medium are formed, propagating in opposite directions relative to neighboring sections. This situation occurs when two extremely short attosecond pulses collide in a two-level resonant medium. Keywords: attosecond pulses, electromagnetically induced gratings, polarization waves.
Abstract With the coherent interaction of a sequence of extremely short light pulses with a resonant medium (when the duration of the pulses and the delays between them are shorter than the relaxation times of the population difference T1 and polarization T2 of the medium), it is possible to create spatial electromagnetically induced gratings (EMIG) of polarization and population difference in the medium, as well as their ultrafast control. The dynamics of such gratings is of interest in connection with the possibility of ultrafast control over the properties of a medium at times of the order of the pulse duration and their influence on the stability of generation of extremely short pulses in a laser with a short linear cavity. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of the system of Maxwell-Bloch equations, an unusual and interesting possibility of the appearance of narrow and alternating sections in the medium is shown and studied in detail, in which harmonic polarization waves of the medium are formed, propagating in opposite directions relative to neighboring sections. This situation occurs when two extremely short attosecond pulses collide in a two-level resonant medium.
Collisions of unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonant medium that coherently interact with it are studied theoretically. The dynamics of spatial polarization structures and population difference that the pulses induce in the medium are analyzed. A surprising feature is that the medium is capable of “remembering” the result of the interaction with the pulses and their collisions during times comparable to the polarization relaxation time. An analysis of the dynamics of light-induced structures makes it possible to judge the parameters of subcycle pulses at the times longer than the pulse duration, which, in the future, can be useful in their detection.
Abstract Recently, the possibility of the creation, erasing and ultrafast control of polarization and population inversion gratings by sequences of few-cycle bipolar pulses interacting with a medium in a resonant and coherent way was predicted. In this case, the overlapping of pulses in the medium is not needed for the creation of gratings. In this paper, we study the possibility of the ultrafast creation and control of spatial periodic gratings in a resonant medium when subcycle unipolar pulses (that is ones containing the constant spectral component of an electric field) propagate in the coherent regime.
With the coherent interaction of a sequence of extremely short light pulses with a resonant medium (when the duration of the pulses and the delays between them are shorter than the relaxation times of the population difference T1 and polarization T2 of the medium), it is possible to create spatial electromagnetically induced gratings (EMIG) of polarization and population difference in the medium, as well as their ultrafast control. The dynamics of such gratings is of interest in connection with the possibility of ultrafast control over the properties of a medium at times of the order of the pulse duration and their influence on the stability of generation of extremely short pulses in a laser with a short linear cavity. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of the system of Maxwell-Bloch equations, an unusual and interesting possibility of the appearance of narrow and alternating sections in the medium is shown and studied in detail, in which harmonic polarization waves of the medium are formed, propagating in opposite directions relative to neighboring sections. This situation occurs when two extremely short attosecond pulses collide in a two-level resonant medium.
Half-cycle attosecond pulses formed from an electromagnetic field half-wave have the shortest duration in a given spectral interval. When these pulses interact coherently with the medium, new types of spatial structures of population inversion may emerge on each resonant transition. Based on numerical calculations, we examine the possibility of ultrafast control of these structures, such as microcavities, in an asymmetric collision of half-cycle pulses in a medium. We demonstrate that it is possible to create dynamic microcavities with controlled parameters, as well as divide the medium into different regions of near-constant population inversion. The selectivity effect is observed, with deeper structures formed on one transition than another, highlighting the possibility of fine-tuning these processes. The results show that time-dependent media could be realized in a conventional resonant medium with discrete energy levels using half-cycle pulses.