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IEEE photonics journal

Space Imaging of Six-Wave Mixing in a Rydberg Dressing Atomic Ensemble

Junling Che, Jintao Bai, Yanpeng Zhang

Published Jan 29, 2019• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Atoms excited to Rydberg states can be used to enhance the nonlinearity of medium via electromagnetic induced transparency (EIT) due to their special property. In this letter, focusing on a Rydberg medium with strong nonlinearity, we investigate the space imaging characteristics of generating Rydberg EIT-assisted six-wave mixing in a K-type five-level atomic system. Rydberg spatial image variation regularity modulated by an optical field was obtained. This study on the regulation of image variation was able to establish a relation between the refractive index of the Rydberg medium and optical field, which will not only expand research on Rydberg space optical phenomena but can also provide the basis for advanced designs that are highly dependent on the refractive index materials. More importantly, these results have research value in the field of optical information processing.

DOI
10.1109/jphot.2019.2895862

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Atoms excited to Rydberg states can be used to enhance the nonlinearity of medium via electromagnetic induced transparency (EIT) due to their special property. In this letter, focusing on a Rydberg medium with strong nonlinearity, we investigate the space imaging characteristics of generating Rydberg EIT-assisted six-wave mixing in a K-type five-level atomic system. Rydberg spatial image variation regularity modulated by an optical field was obtained. This study on the regulation of image variation was able to establish a relation between the refractive index of the Rydberg medium and optical field, which will not only expand research on Rydberg space optical phenomena but can also provide the basis for advanced designs that are highly dependent on the refractive index materials. More importantly, these results have research value in the field of optical information processing.
Abstract We report the experimental observation of intensity noise correlation between six-wave mixing (SWM), fluorescence and probe transmission signal in a coherently prepared Rydberg atomic ensemble. With the assistance of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) technique, the Rydberg SWM is generated with high efficiency. Then the correlation between the probe transmission and SWM, the anti-correlation between the probe and fluorescence, and the anti-correlation between SWM and fluorescence occur, with these being caused by the enhanced dispersion and nonlinearity in the Rydberg-EIT medium. Such intensity correlation can be effectively controlled by the strong Rydberg-dressing effect. This investigation can potentially contribute to the further study of multi-field quantum correlations and anti-correlations via atomic spin coherence.
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In this paper, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate a novel nondestructive optical detection method by coherently exciting and controlling the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-assisted six-wave mixing (SWM) process of S state Rydberg atoms in 85Rb vapour. By analysing the evolution regularity of the resonant SWM signals under various conditions, one can control the signal by altering the atom density and detuning and the strengths of the probe and coupling fields. The characteristics of this SWM process provide a potential application for spectroscopy physics and determining the interactions between optical fields and atoms.
Abstract Rydberg atoms, characterized by their giant polarizability and strong long-range interactions, provide an ideal platform for exploring optical nonlinearities. By coupling light to ensembles of Rydberg atoms, one can map the strong and nonlocal interactions between Rydberg atoms and light fields. A particularly important scheme for realizing such nonlinearity is electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). This article presents a review of the research progress in nonlinear optics based on Rydberg-EIT systems, particularly nonlinear light propagation in Rydberg atomic gases. We first introduce the fundamental properties of Rydberg atoms and the physical mechanism of EIT-enhanced nonlinearity, emphasizing how the Rydberg blockade effect endows the system with a giant nonlocal Kerr nonlinearity. Subsequently, we discuss some typical nonlinear optical phenomena in such a system with focusing and defocusing nonlocal nonlinearities. In the focusing regime, we discuss spatial solitons, vortex solitons, soliton cloning, soliton molecules, optical bullets, and self-induced transparency solitons. Other topics are also discussed. In the defocusing regime, we analyze pattern formation and shock wave dynamics. Finally, we provide an outlook on the future development of this field toward quantum control, hybrid-system integration, and novel functional devices.
Eight-wave mixing (EWM) is a seven-order nonlinear process that can reflect nonclassical features within multiple optical fields, thus imparting certain advantages. In this study, we directly observed the EWM spectrum and spatial images that show Rydberg atoms under a circularly polarized probe field in a five-level coherently prepared atomic system. Such circular polarization dressing fields can obtain high-contrast Rydberg EWM overcome the difficulties of several multi-wave mixing (MWM) signals always coexist, and the multi-parameter controlling Rydberg EWM mechanism is established by changing the power and detuning and polarization of the dressing fields. These controllable high-order MWM processes present a contrast ratio of 96% and a narrow linewidth of <30 MHz compared with low-order mixing processes under identical conditions (e.g., six-wave mixing). The corresponding MWM spatial images are presented, and they can partly reflect the underlying nonlinear phase variation, whereas the given theory can predict the experimental results.
We study the parametric amplification of electromagnetically induced transparency-assisted Rydberg six- and eight-wave mixing signals through a cascaded nonlinear optical process in a hot rubidium atomic ensemble both theoretically and experimentally. The shift of the resonant frequency (induced by the Rydberg–Rydberg interaction) of parametrically amplified six-wave mixing signal is observed. Moreover, the interplays between the dressing effects and Rydberg–Rydberg interactions in parametrically amplified multiwave mixing signals are investigated. The linear amplification of Rydberg multiwave mixing processes with multichannel nature acts against the suppression caused by Rydberg–Rydberg interaction and dressing effect.