Variation of light-wave parameters during propagation through a resonant gas medium in a magnetic field

А. Ч. Измайлов

A theoretical analysis is made of the resonant interaction between a traveling monochromatic light wave of arbitrary intensity and polarization and the 1/21/2 and 10 transitions in gas atoms in a magnetic field. An analysis is made of the influence of atomic collisions and coherence of the Zeeman sublevels of the terms on the structure of nonlinear magnetooptic resonances in the amplitude and polarization characteristics of the wave. Some features of nonlinear magnetooptic resonances for laser excitation of atoms from the ground state are noted. A study is made of the Faraday rotation and self-rotation of the polarization ellipse of the radiation as a function of the detuning of the wave frequency, the saturation parameter, and the optical density of the gas. The stability of the polarization of light in the medium is discussed. It is noted that these laws may be used to analyze and control the radiation characteristics of lasers and amplifiers when the level of saturation of a resonant gaseous medium in a magnetic field is high.

F. T. Arecchi, Vittorio Degiorgio, Carlo Giacomo Someda

A. M. Kamchatnov

Denis V. Brazhnikov, A. S. Novokreshchenov, А. В. Тайченачев

Magneto-optical resonances of electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) in a cell filled with the vapor of alkali atoms and buffer gas are considered. The atoms are excited using a configuration of electromagnetic fields composed of two counter-propagating linearly polarized light waves and a static magnetic field. We focus on the influence of the residual magnetic field on the parameters of nonlinear resonances. In real experiments, a residual field is always present in the cell due to imperfect magnetic-field shielding. On the basis of calculations, we formulate practical recommendations for controlling the residual magnetic field in the experiments aimed at observation of high-quality EIA resonances. The results from this work can find application in quantum magnetometry and nonlinear optics.

Yu. A. Vdovin, V. M. Ermachenko

Ryohei Seto, Hiroshi Kuratsuji, Robert S. Botet

The equations of propagation for the polarisation components of an electromagnetic wave in non-linear birefringent media are often termed “non-linear Schrödinger equations”. In this letter, we pursue the analogy between the quantum dynamics of a 2-states oscillator and the time evolution of the wave polarisation. More specifically, we define exactly the optical analogue of the conditions for nuclear magnetic resonance, leading in the optical medium to resonant oscillations of the polarisation state when birefringence is periodically modulated along the wave propagation direction in addition to a static longitudinal magnetic field. Circular polarisation then exhibits Rabi oscillations. The non-linear influence of light intensity on the shape of the resonant polarisation line is discussed precisely.