Transient behaviors of photon switching by quantum interference
Yong‐Fan Chen, Guan-Chi Pan, Ite A. Yu
We have experimentally studied the transient behaviors of photon switching by quantum interference in laser-cooled $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{atoms}$. The experimental results are consistent with theoretical predictions. We show that the rise time of the probe absorption cannot be less than $2∕\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ where $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}$ is the spontaneous decay rate of the excited states. In the low-intensity limit, the rise time is equal to $2\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Gamma}}∕({\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{c}^{2}+{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{s}^{2})$ for the scheme used here, where ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{c}$ and ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{s}$ are the Rabi frequencies of the coupling and switching fields. A simple picture based on the dark and nondark states is provided to explain these transient behaviors.
Physical Review A•Jun 2, 2004•23 citations