Temporal coherent control by quantum interference

Ignacio Franco, Michael Spanner, Paul W. Brumer

Valérie Blanchet, Céline Nicole, M. A. Bouchène +1 more

Temporal coherent control of an excited state wave packet is produced by a sequence of two identical ultrashort laser pulses. We show theoretically and experimentally in the case of the $(6s\ensuremath{-}7d)$ two-photon transition in Cs that optical and quantum interferences take place and are clearly distinguished.

X. Marie, T. Amand, P. Renucci

\nThis paper reviews recent experimental results on temporal coherent control of electronic excitations in semiconductor nanostructures. We demonstrate that the optical orientation of excitons can be coherently controlled and directly observed in a resonant time-resolved Secondary Emission experiment. Optical and quantum interferences are clearly distinguished in this coherent control experiment which relies on the linear optical response of the crystal.\n

Warren S. Warren

Stefano Cavalieri, Lorenzo Fini, Roberto Buffa

The effect of temporal coherent control on the two-photon resonant third-harmonic generation in the continuum of ionization of an atomic system is experimentally investigated by means of a pair of partially incoherent, identical laser pulses. The evidence of quantum interference in the third-harmonic generation, as a function of delay between pulses, is reported. The transition from a resonant to a nonresonant case is also shown. The results agree with the predictions of a recently published theoretical model showing that the onset of quantum interference appears to be related to the coherence time of the laser radiation that is much shorter than the pulse duration.