Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Applied Physics Letters

Nonlinear frequency conversion of vector beams with four wave mixing in atomic vapor

Huajie Hu, Dajin Luo, Haixia Chen

Published Nov 18, 2019• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the frequency conversion of vector beams with four-wave-mixing (FWM) in rubidium vapor. The conversion of vector beams from the probe beam to the conjugate beam is realized. In FWM experiments, the pump and the probe beam have orthogonal polarizations because of the polarization sensitivity of the FWM process and detection convenience. In order to satisfy the polarization sensitive phase matching condition and realize the nonlinear frequency conversion of vector beams, a Sagnac interferometer is used to form two FWM processes in the same rubidium cell, and two generated conjugate beams are combined with a polarizing beam splitter to form a conjugate vector beam. The experimental results agree well with our theoretical simulation. Compared with nonlinear optical crystals, the atomic vapor provides another platform to control and manipulate the vector beams nonlinearly.

DOI
10.1063/1.5126383

Related papers

Nonlinear frequency conversion of nondiffracting modes via nondegenerate four-wave mixing in atomic vapor

Onkar N. Verma, Niti Kant

We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of nondiffracting optical modes via a nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via a four-level double-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ type atomic system to produce a low frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of the probe field are efficiently transferred to the FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase-matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of the Stokes beam are identical to that of the probe beam, while the phase profile is complementary. The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about $99%$, which substantiates the high efficiency of the FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.

Physical Review A•Mar 13, 2024•4 citations

Efficient frequency conversion of non-diffracting modes via four-wave mixing in rubidium vapor

Onkar N. Verma, Niti Kant

Abstract We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of non-diffracting optical modes via non-degenerate four-wave mixing(FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via afour-level double-Λ type atomic system to produce a new frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of probe field are efficiently transferred to FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of Stokes beam are identical to that of probe beam while phase profile is complimentary.The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about 99%, which substantiates the high efficiency of FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.

•Jun 8, 2023•0 citations

Trans-spectral vector beam nonlinear conversion via parametric four-wave mixing in alkali vapor

Churong Pan, Chengdong Yang, Huajie Hu +7 more

Coherent frequency conversion of vector beams (VBs) without distorting their intensity profile or spatial polarization distribution is important for novel applications in quantum and classical regimes. Here, we experimentally and theoretically investigate VB transfer from near-infrared to blue light using a Sagnac interferometer, combining the parametric four-wave mixing process in atomic vapor. The vector probe beam is converted into a completely different wavelength, and the vector mode of the generated blue beam is highly similar to the incident probe beam. These results may provide a feasible solution for communication interfaces in classical and quantum science fields based on atomic ensembles.

Optics Letters•Oct 14, 2021•17 citations

Generation of Airy beams by four-wave mixing in Rubidium vapor cell

Dong Wei, Ya Yu, Mingtao Cao +6 more

We report on an experimental generation of Airy beams by four-wave mixing (FWM) in atomic vapor cells. This is achieved by using a non-degenerate FWM process, which occurs with two Gaussian pump beams and one Airy signal beam in hot Rubidium vapor. After satisfying the phase matching condition, a FWM field with the profile of an Airy beam can be generated. In our experiment, the diffraction-free and self-healing behaviors of the generated FWM beam are examined. The results shown that the generated FWM beam is an Airy beam. The nonlinear generation process can be extended to other configurations in the atomic medium, which will be useful for manipulation and application of Airy beams in atomic systems.

Optics Letters•Jul 28, 2014•24 citations

Propagation of optical vortices in a nonlinear atomic medium with a photonic band gap

Zhaoyang Zhang, Danmeng Ma, Yiqi Zhang +3 more

We experimentally generate a vortex beam through a four-wave mixing (FWM) process after satisfying the phase-matching condition in a rubidium atomic vapor cell with a photonic band gap (PBG) structure. The observed FWM vortex can also be viewed as the reflected part of the launched probe vortex from the PBG. Further, we investigate the propagation behaviors, including the spatial shift and splitting of the probe and FWM vortices in the medium with enhanced Kerr nonlinearity induced by electromagnetically induced transparency. This Letter can be useful for better understanding and manipulating the applications involving the interactions between optical vortices and the medium.

Optics Letters•Mar 1, 2017•46 citations

Four Wave Mixing (FWM) in alkali atom vapors - Numerical method

Four Wave Mixing (FWM) in alkali atom vapors exists only under very specific conditions, it is necessary that density of alkali vapor, intensities and frequencies of pump and probe laser beams, have their values within rather narrow ranges. FWM is nonlinear phenomena that can be regarded as scattering of laser beams on nonlinear index grating, generated by the same laser beams. Such scattering results in conversion of two pump photons to additional probe photon, and to conjugate photon at frequency (much) different form the pump and probe frequencies. The interaction of coherent radiation with atomic pairs was analyzed using the Maxwell- Bloch equations. Codes have been developed to numerically solve this system, including the Doppler effect and relaxation processes. Added to them are the effects created by the quantum treatment of the electromagnetic field, the so-called Langevin equation. This created the conditions for the theoretical analysis of quantum effects such as the appearance of trapped states under conditions that provide four-wave mixing of coherent radiation. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge funding provided by the Institute of Physics University Belgrade, through the grant by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia.

•Jan 1, 2026•0 citations
We experimentally investigate the frequency conversion of vector beams with four-wave-mixing (FWM) in rubidium vapor. The conversion of vector beams from the probe beam to the conjugate beam is realized. In FWM experiments, the pump and the probe beam have orthogonal polarizations because of the polarization sensitivity of the FWM process and detection convenience. In order to satisfy the polarization sensitive phase matching condition and realize the nonlinear frequency conversion of vector beams, a Sagnac interferometer is used to form two FWM processes in the same rubidium cell, and two generated conjugate beams are combined with a polarizing beam splitter to form a conjugate vector beam. The experimental results agree well with our theoretical simulation. Compared with nonlinear optical crystals, the atomic vapor provides another platform to control and manipulate the vector beams nonlinearly.
We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of nondiffracting optical modes via a nondegenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via a four-level double-$\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ type atomic system to produce a low frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of the probe field are efficiently transferred to the FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase-matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of the Stokes beam are identical to that of the probe beam, while the phase profile is complementary. The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about 9999%99, which substantiates the high efficiency of the FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.
Abstract We investigate the nonlinear frequency conversion of non-diffracting optical modes via non-degenerate four-wave mixing(FWM) process in rubidium vapor. In this process, two strong control fields and a weak probe field mutually interact via afour-level double-Λ type atomic system to produce a new frequency weak Stokes field which is a phase conjugate to probe. We show that any arbitrary mode such as Airy, Bessel, Mathieu, and Weber beams encoded initially in the spatial envelope of probe field are efficiently transferred to FWM Stokes field by satisfying the phase matching condition. Interestingly, we found that the transmitted intensity profiles of Stokes beam are identical to that of probe beam while phase profile is complimentary.The phase conjugation property of output beams is revealed by interfering them with a copropagating plane wave. We further found the fidelity in terms of structural similarity between two transmitted modes of about 99%, which substantiates the high efficiency of FWM process. The efficient transfer and frequency conversion of such diffraction-free beams may have potential applications in nonlinear optical and quantum technologies.
Coherent frequency conversion of vector beams (VBs) without distorting their intensity profile or spatial polarization distribution is important for novel applications in quantum and classical regimes. Here, we experimentally and theoretically investigate VB transfer from near-infrared to blue light using a Sagnac interferometer, combining the parametric four-wave mixing process in atomic vapor. The vector probe beam is converted into a completely different wavelength, and the vector mode of the generated blue beam is highly similar to the incident probe beam. These results may provide a feasible solution for communication interfaces in classical and quantum science fields based on atomic ensembles.
We report on an experimental generation of Airy beams by four-wave mixing (FWM) in atomic vapor cells. This is achieved by using a non-degenerate FWM process, which occurs with two Gaussian pump beams and one Airy signal beam in hot Rubidium vapor. After satisfying the phase matching condition, a FWM field with the profile of an Airy beam can be generated. In our experiment, the diffraction-free and self-healing behaviors of the generated FWM beam are examined. The results shown that the generated FWM beam is an Airy beam. The nonlinear generation process can be extended to other configurations in the atomic medium, which will be useful for manipulation and application of Airy beams in atomic systems.
We experimentally generate a vortex beam through a four-wave mixing (FWM) process after satisfying the phase-matching condition in a rubidium atomic vapor cell with a photonic band gap (PBG) structure. The observed FWM vortex can also be viewed as the reflected part of the launched probe vortex from the PBG. Further, we investigate the propagation behaviors, including the spatial shift and splitting of the probe and FWM vortices in the medium with enhanced Kerr nonlinearity induced by electromagnetically induced transparency. This Letter can be useful for better understanding and manipulating the applications involving the interactions between optical vortices and the medium.
Four Wave Mixing (FWM) in alkali atom vapors exists only under very specific conditions, it is necessary that density of alkali vapor, intensities and frequencies of pump and probe laser beams, have their values within rather narrow ranges. FWM is nonlinear phenomena that can be regarded as scattering of laser beams on nonlinear index grating, generated by the same laser beams. Such scattering results in conversion of two pump photons to additional probe photon, and to conjugate photon at frequency (much) different form the pump and probe frequencies. The interaction of coherent radiation with atomic pairs was analyzed using the Maxwell- Bloch equations. Codes have been developed to numerically solve this system, including the Doppler effect and relaxation processes. Added to them are the effects created by the quantum treatment of the electromagnetic field, the so-called Langevin equation. This created the conditions for the theoretical analysis of quantum effects such as the appearance of trapped states under conditions that provide four-wave mixing of coherent radiation. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge funding provided by the Institute of Physics University Belgrade, through the grant by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia.