A large number of novel semiclassical and quantum optical effects and phenomena (e.g., coherent population trapping, electromagnetically induced transparency, spontaneous emission inhibition and lasing without population inversion) caused by atomic multi-level phase coherence can be found in three- and four-level atomic vapor media. Such phase coherence includes destructive and constructive quantum interference among various pathways of transition in the atomic systems. Since a simple RLC electric circuit can be used to simulate some resonant responses of a two-level atomic system (or two-state resonant systems), we will consider an analog of interference effect (phase coherence) in an electric circuit containing three RLC meshes for mimicking three- and four-level atomic systems. If certain magnitudes of capacitance and inductance parameters are chosen (or the capacitance and inductance are tuned), the destructive and constructive interference among currents in the circuit can be switched to each other. Thus, the analog of nearly all the quantum coherent effects relevant to a multi-level atomic system that interacts with optical fields can in principle be realized in the present multi-mesh RLC circuit.
A large number of novel semiclassical and quantum optical effects and phenomena (e.g., coherent population trapping, electromagnetically induced transparency, spontaneous emission inhibition and lasing without population inversion) caused by atomic multi-level phase coherence can be found in three- and four-level atomic vapor media. Such phase coherence includes destructive and constructive quantum interference among various pathways of transition in the atomic systems. Since a simple RLC electric circuit can be used to simulate some resonant responses of a two-level atomic system (or two-state resonant systems), we will consider an analog of interference effect (phase coherence) in an electric circuit containing three RLC meshes for mimicking three- and four-level atomic systems. If certain magnitudes of capacitance and inductance parameters are chosen (or the capacitance and inductance are tuned), the destructive and constructive interference among currents in the circuit can be switched to each other. Thus, the analog of nearly all the quantum coherent effects relevant to a multi-level atomic system that interacts with optical fields can in principle be realized in the present multi-mesh RLC circuit.
Since a two-level resonant atomic system can be simulated by a simple circuit, three- and four-level electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) that occur due to light-atom interaction can find its classical counterpart in circuit analog. As the optical response of an EIT atomic medium (including atomic vapors and semiconductor-quantum-dot dielectrics) can be controlled via tunable quantum interference induced by applied external control fields, in the scheme of circuit analog, such a controllable manipulation is achieved via capacitor coupling, where two loops are coupled by a capacitor that can represent the applied control fields in atomic EIT. Both numerical simulation and experimental demonstration of three- and four-level EIT were performed based on such a scenario of circuit analog. The classical “coherence” relevant to quantum interference among transitions pathways driven by both probe and control fields in EIT atomic systems has been manifested in the present circuit analog of EIT.
Atomic coherence and interference manifested by electromagentically induced transparency (EIT) and coherent population trapping (CPT) plays an important role in the current studies of atom-photon interactions and has found numerous applications in optical physics. EIT is created in a three-level atomic system by a coupling field and results in destructive interference between two excitation paths of a weak probe laser interacting with the atomic medium. This leads to suppressed linear absorption and rapidly varying atomic dispersion for the probe laser near the atomic resonance, which provides the platform for a variety of applications such as nonlinear optics at low light levels, slow light manipulation, and quantum state engineering for photons and atoms. Here we extend the simple three-level EIT system to more complicated and versatile configurations in a multi-level atomic system coupled by multiple laser fields. We show that with multiple excitation paths provided by different laser fields, phase-dependent quantum interference is induced: either constructive or destructive interference can be realized by varying the relative phases among the laser fields. Two specific examples are discussed. One is a three-level system coupled by bichromatic coupling and probe fields, in which the phase dependent interference between the resonant two-photon Raman transitions can be initiated and controlled. Another is a four-level system coupled by two coupling fields and two probe fields, in which a double-EIT configuration is created by the phase-dependent interference between three-photon and one-photon excitation processes. We analyze the coherently coupled multi-level atomic system and discuss the control parameters for the onset of constructive or destructive quantum interference. We describe two experiments performed with cold Rb atoms that can be approximately treated as the coherently coupled three-level and four-level atomic systems respectively. The experimental results show the phase-dependent quantum coherence and interference in the multi-level Rb atomic system, and agree with the theoretical calculations based on the coherently coupled three-level or four-level model system.
The author of this thesis concentrates his attention on quantum optical properties of some artificial electromagnetic media, such as quantum coherent atomic vapors (various multilevel electromagnetically induced transparency vapors) and negative refractive index materials, and suggests some possible ways to manipulate wave propagations inside the artificial electromagnetic materials based on quantum coherence and quantum vacuum effects. In Chapters 1 and 2, the author reviews the previous papers on quantum coherence as well as the relevant work such as electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), atomic population trapping and their various applications. The basic concepts of quantum coherence (atomic phase coherence, quantum interferences within atomic energy levels) and quantum vacuum are introduced, and the theoretical formulations for treating wave propagations in quantum coherent media are presented. In Chapter 3, the author considers three topics on the manipulation of light propagations via quantum coherence and quantum interferences: i) the evolutional optical behaviors (turn-on dynamics) of a four-level N-configuration atomic system is studied and the tunable optical behavior that depends on the intensity ratio of the signal field to the control field is considered. Some typical photonic logic gates (e.g. NOT and NOR gates) are designed based on the tunable four-level optical responses of the N-configuration atomic system; ii) the destructive and constructive quantum interferences between two control transitions (driven by the control fields) in a tripod-type four-level system is suggested. The double-control quantum interferences can be utilized to realize some photonic devices such as the logic-gate devices, e.g., NOT, OR, NOR and EXNOR gates; iii) some new quantum coherent schemes (using EIT and dressed-state mixed-parity transitions) for realizing negative refractive indices are proposed. The most remarkable characteristic (and advantage) of the present scenarios is such that the isotropic left-handed media (with microscopic structure units at the atomic level) in the optical frequency band can be achieved. Quantum vacuum (the ground state of quantized fields) can exhibit many interesting effects. In Chapter 4, we investigate two quantum-vacuum effects in artificial materials: i) the anisotropic distribution of quantum-vacuum momentum density in a moving electromagnetic medium; ii) the angular momentum transfer between quantum vacuum and anisotropic medium. Such quantum-vacuum macroscopic mechanical effects could be detected by current technology, e.g., the so-called fiber optical sensor that can measure motion with nanoscale sensitivity. We expect that these vacuum effects could be utilized to develop sensitive sensor techniques or to design new quantum optical and photonic devices.In Chapter 5, the author suggests some interesting effects due to the combination of quantum coherence and quantum vacuum, i.e., the quantum coherent effects, in which the quantum-vacuum fluctuation field is involved. Two topics are addressed: i) spontaneous emission inhibition due to quantum interference in a three-level system; ii) quantum light-induced guiding potentials for coherent manipulation of atomic matter waves (containing multilevel atoms). These quantum guiding potentials could be utilized to cool and trap atoms, and may be used for the development of new techniques of atom fibers and atom chips, where the coherent manipulation of atomic matter waves is needed.In Chapter 6, we conclude this thesis with some remarks, briefly discuss new work that deserves further consideration in the future, and present a guide to the previously published papers by us.
RLC circuits may used to simulate the phenomenon of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency(EIT) in atomic vapors.The EIT-like effect is observed in capacitor coupled RLC circuits due to the classical destructive interference,which is studied by examining the frequency dependence of the power transferred from the external generator to the resonant first loop.We investigated the effect of coupling strength and frequency detuning on EIT-like effect in two mesh circuits which used to analog three-level atom in the Λ configuration and in three mesh circuits which used to analog four-level atom in the inverted-Y and N configuration.
A new scheme is suggested to manipulate the probe transitions (and hence the optical properties of atomic vapors) via double-control destructive and constructive quantum interferences. The influence of phase coherence between the two control transitions on the probe transition is also studied. The most remarkable feature of the present scheme is that the optical properties (absorption, transparency and dispersion) of an atomic system can be manipulated using this double-control multi-pathway interferences (multiple routes to excitation). It is also shown that a four-level system will exhibit a two-level resonant absorption because the two control levels (driven by the two control fields) form a dark state (and hence a destructive quantum interference occurs between the two control transitions). However, the present four-level system will exhibit electromagnetically induced transparency to the probe field when the three lower levels (including the probe level and the two control levels) form a three-level dark state. The present scenario has potential applications in new devices (e.g. logic gates and sensitive optical switches) and new techniques (e.g. quantum coherent information storage).
The appearance of quantum interference in the microscopic world is one of the deepest mysteries at the very root of quantum mechanics. When light interacts with atoms, it can induce transitions by way of distinct but indistinguishable pathways and yield unexpected and often counter-intuitive results. Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), Coherent Population Trapping (CPT), and Lasing Without Inversion (LWI) are modern examples of phenomena where the traditional rules that govern absorption and dispersion undergo major revisions. Spectacular consequences of this new state of affairs include the ability of a light beam to propagate through a normally absorbing medium with little or no absorption, or to undergo amplification even if the active medium is not prepared in a state of population inversion. Light signals have been shown to travel with strongly subluminal group velocities of only a handful of meters per second and, even, to propagate at speed greater than the ordinary speed of light, but without violation of causality or of the established rules that control the transfer of optical information through space. Three-level atoms can interact with two coherent electromagnetic fields according to three different systems, known as Cascade, Lambda and Vee systems. The propagation of a weak probe field can be deeply affected by the presence of a second stronger beam, the so-called coupling field. Transparency windows, splitting of emission and absorption lines and enormously enhanced dispersion have been documented in numerous experiments. In this thesis we explore the physical origin of the transparency induced in these systems by the simultaneous interplay of the coupling and probe fields. We focus our attention on the Cascade system and study its two configurations, Cascade-EIT and Cascade-AT. We develop a variety of complementary approaches for the description of these two configurations, some semiclassical and others fully quantum mechanical. We prove the existence of quantum interference in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and also the surprising absence of interference in a closely related phenomenon, known as the Autler-Townes effect. Finally we complement the traditional machinery of theoretical quantum optics with techniques borrowed from quantum scattering theory, and offer what we believe is the most convincing physical evidence for the appearance, or for the absence, of quantum interference effects.