Atomic vapours are an experimentally simple and efficient system in which to study nonlinear wave mixing. We study a four-wave mixing (FWM) process in rubidium vapour which efficiently converts 780 and 776 nm light to 420 nm and 5.2 μm fields. In particular, we quantitatively investigate the transfer of orbital angular momentum (OAM) between the FWM fields. OAM, and structured light more generally, is an important research tool for optical manipulation, imaging and communication. Phase-matched nonlinear processes are both longitudinally and transversely phase coherent, and therefore OAM, which is associated with spiral phase fronts, must be conserved between the pump and generated fields. This makes wave mixing an ideal tool for frequency conversion and generation of a variety of OAM states for use in both classical and quantum communication.
Atomic vapours are an experimentally simple and efficient system in which to study nonlinear wave mixing. We study a four-wave mixing (FWM) process in rubidium vapour which efficiently converts 780 and 776 nm light to 420 nm and 5.2 μm fields. In particular, we quantitatively investigate the transfer of orbital angular momentum (OAM) between the FWM fields. OAM, and structured light more generally, is an important research tool for optical manipulation, imaging and communication. Phase-matched nonlinear processes are both longitudinally and transversely phase coherent, and therefore OAM, which is associated with spiral phase fronts, must be conserved between the pump and generated fields. This makes wave mixing an ideal tool for frequency conversion and generation of a variety of OAM states for use in both classical and quantum communication.
Abstract Laguerre-Gauss beams, and more generally the orbital angular momentum of light (OAM) provide valuable research tools for optical manipulation, processing, imaging and communication. High-efficiency frequency conversion of OAM is possible via four-wave mixing in rubidium vapour. Conservation of the OAM in the two pump beams determines the total OAM shared by the generated light fields at 420 nm and 5.2 μm—but not its distribution between them. Here we experimentally investigate the spiral bandwidth of the generated light modes as a function of pump OAM. A small pump OAM is transferred almost completely to the 420 nm beam. Increasing the total pump OAM broadens the OAM spectrum of the generated light, indicating OAM entanglement between the generated light fields. This clears the path to high-efficiency OAM entanglement between widely disparate wavelengths.
In this work we present a series of results on four-wave mixing (FWM) processes induced by structured light in atomic media. We start with a theoretical study focusing on a cascade FWM process in rubidium vapor, generating a blue light field at 420 nm. In this setting, we show that in the extended-medium regime the Hermite-Gaussian basis presents a unique property of optical structure transfer. We then exploit this result to show that, by carefully tailoring the structure of the pump beams, one can obtain desired spatial modes with cylindrical and elliptical symmetries with high fidelity at the blue light output. Following that, we consider an experimental configuration where two degenerate FWM signals are generated in different directions of space by the same pump fields. In this setup, we present results in heated rubidium vapor evidencing the simultaneous conservation of orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the two FWM processes. We show that the two-channel setting allows to encode the OAM content of the input beams onto the OAM carried by the two FWM signals. Next, we explore the transverse mode dynamics in the context of optical modes contained in the so-called orbital angular momentum Poincaré sphere (PS). Defined in analogy with a general polarization state, this family of modes is parametrized in terms of polar and azimuthal angles. We show that the two FWM signals can also be described as belonging to Poincaré spheres, and that the angles on the output PS are related to those on the input PS by well-defined symmetries. The predicted FWM intensity profiles, as well as the consequences of the symmetry properties, are in good agreement with our experimental results. We also explore interesting scenarios, such as combinations of different PS modes and the fulfillment of one of the symmetry relations in each sphere independently, and restrictions that arise in the extended-medium regime. In the last part, we study the correlations between the light fields participating in the two-channel FWM configuration. Following our recent work on cold atoms, we investigate the correlations originating from the conversion of phase-noise to amplitude-noise as a result of the light-atom interaction, and discuss our attempts to discriminate transverse spatial dependencies on these correlations. Finally, we outline the quantum theory of FWM, exploring the multi-spatial-mode nature of the generated light state and the associated spatial correlations.
We explore the conservation of orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the four-wave mixing (FWM) process in hot rubidium vapor. Since most modern communication systems send data in pulses corresponding to bits, we can use OAM to encode more information in each pulse by assigning structure to each signal. Furthermore, because FWM can be used to generate entangled photon pairs, we can use this process to bring enhanced signal security. We experimentally studied FWM with a wide range of Laguerre-Gaussian modes and their superpositions and observed OAM transfer from the probe field to a generated Stokes field. By studying the output Stokes intensity and phase distributions, we confirm l mode (OAM) conservation for pure l and p modes, as well as for the superpositions of l and -l for the mode numbers up to l = 4, p = 4. We also found that p index is generally not conserved and its conservation is highly dependent on the relative sizes of the probe and pump beams in the Rb cell. We also identify parameters to improve FWM gain with OAM transfer and propose an analytical method for determining OAM p number.
Abstract The manipulation of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) contributes to understand the OAM multiplexing, is significant in free-space optical communication and information processing. We theoretically simulate and experimentally demonstrate the regularity of the OAM transfer, including the angular and radial modes, of Laguerre–Gaussian beam via four-wave mixing process in 85Rb vapor. The 420 nm coherent blue light output field inherits the phase characteristic of 780 nm and 776 nm beams with different OAM modes. The output field OAM modes show the transfer as a typical arithmetic operation of the input field OAM modes with equal-handed angular indice l, while, the conversion between angular and radial modes occurs with the opposite angular indice l. Such rules of the OAM transfer and manipulation have implications on the research of high-capacity information transfer and quantum communication.
Vortex light, a unique optical field that carries orbital angular momentum (OAM), has attracted considerable attention in recent years. In this paper, we present a detailed theoretical analysis of OAM transfer from the input field to the generated signal field in a four-level double-Lambda system via the four-wave mixing (FWM) process, showing that their OAMs follow a specific algebraic relationship. We identify the optimal conditions for efficient vortex light transmission, analyze the influence of detuning on transmission efficiency and phase distortion, and specifically examine the scenario where the control field carries OAM the latter being essential for a complete characterization of OAM conservation in the FWM process, while all three aspects have been largely overlooked in the existing literature. Furthermore, we investigated the tunability of the group velocity between the probe and signal fields by modulating the Rabi frequencies of the two control fields and the relative phase between the probe and signal fields during the FWM process. We demonstrate that the conversion between matched vortex slow and fast light can be realized an effect that has not been widely explored in dual-Lambda-type systems. These results may hold promise for applications in quantum information storage and processing, quantum computing, and ultrasensitive detection.
Abstract We propose a rotation-controlled nonlinear orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) filter based on photonic-band-gap-assisted four-wave mixing (PBG-FWM) in rubidium vapor. The model follows the field convention of PBG-FWM experiments: an OAM probe field E1 is Bragg-reflected through the nonlinear polarization produced with two counterpropagating Gaussian coupling fields E3 and E3′, while the generated field is denoted by EF. The coupling pair forms a standing-wave Rabi frequency ∣G3s∣2=∣G3∣2+∣G3′∣2+2G3G3′cos(2k3z), which creates the longitudinal PBG modulation and enters the resonant denominator of the third-order susceptibility. Rotation adds an OAM-dependent rotational Doppler shift to the probe and generated FWM modes. In a slow-light PBG-FWM medium this shift is converted into a longitudinal phase-matching perturbation, giving ηm(Ω)=η0sinc2[Δkrot(m)L/2] in the phase-matching-dominated limit. Rotation can also perturb χ(3) through Doppler-shifted detunings, producing envelope and asymmetry corrections. The theory predicts OAM-dependent FWM quenching, the readable petal rotation, and a rotationally tunable OAM cutoff. The results provide a design route for rotation-sensitive structured-light processing in atomic nonlinear media.