Stimulated Raman gain in a Lambda-type three level system with transitions driven by multiple oscillating fields

Jason L. Bowie, J. C. Garrison, R. Y. Chiao

Measurements of stimulated Raman gain in rubidium vapor are made and compared with a detailed model. Amplification of a weak probe laser is observed in a \ensuremath{\Lambda}-type three-level system that is driven by a strong cw coupling laser. The intensity of the coupling laser is sufficiently strong that it both optically pumps the atomic levels, causing a population inversion in the ground-state hyperfine levels, and drives the stimulated Raman process producing gain. A theory that models all aspects of the gain mechanism is presented. The model includes all interactions between the external fields and the atomic transitions, including those processes that involve multiple fields interacting with the same transition. Numerical calculations are compared with gain measurements made at several coupling laser intensities and detunings from the $D1$ line in ${}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}.$

Sung-Jong Park, Taek-Yong Kwon, Ho-Sung Lee +2 more

Li-Ya Pei, Ruquan Wang, Zuo Zhan-Chun +2 more

Theoretical and experimental studies of stimulated Raman spectrum with the D1 line of an 85Rb atomic vapor system are performed. In this Λ-type system, we discover that the influence of the pump on the probe field includes two parts: stimulated Raman excitation and optical pumping. Depending on the pump frequency detuning and field intensity conditions, the Raman spectrum can display either gain or loss. When the optically pumped absorption spectrum is taken as background, either a narrow transparent window or an absorption doublet with widely different linewidths appears. Our theoretical analysis agrees well with our experimental observations. Based on these studies, we present an interpretation from a new viewpoint of the physics of electromagnetically induced transparency (with on-resonance pumping) and Autler-Townes splitting (with far off-resonance pumping) in a Λ-type level atomic system, giving the relationship between these two important phenomena and the Raman spectrum.

G. G. Grigoryan, Claude Leroy, Y. Pashayan-Leroy +3 more

N. M. Lawandy

This work focused on understanding the effects of arbitrary transverse and longitudinal relaxation rates on the susceptibilities of coherently driven three-level systems. The approximation of a single relaxation rate often made in previous work is strongly invalidated by the variation in the spontaneous emission lifetime between various atomic level pairs in systems such as cesium. It is of great importance to the problem of nonlinear infrared generation to determine the dependence of both real and imaginary susceptibility on relaxation rates. The imaginary susceptibility on the pump transition determines the absorption of pump photons and the imaginary susceptibility on the laser transition determines the spectral dependence of the gain. This is of particular importance for pure Raman emission (i.e., absorption at linecenter of the gain transition) as it determines the tunability characteristics we are aiming to predict. The real susceptibility is important when cavities are used at the signal field as this will determine the loaded resonance of the Raman oscillator. Researchers show that in some cases which result from having different relaxation rates mode splitting may result, allowing more than one frequency to have the same Raman wavelength, possibly resulting in a temporal instability.

V. N. Lugovoǐ