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Laser & Photonics Review

Creation and Control of Vortex‐Beam Arrays in Atomic Vapor

Jinpeng Yuan, Hengfei Zhang, Chaohua Wu, Gang Chen, Lirong Wang, Liantuan Xiao, Suotang Jia

Published Jan 31, 2023• 48 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Optical vortices, which are beams with spiral‐shaped wavefronts and screw phase dislocations, have potential for supporting high‐capacity optical communications. In this study, the generation of 1D and 2D vortex‐beam arrays is theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated by introducing novel forked‐photonic lattices in a three‐level 85 Rb atomic medium. Such forked‐photonic lattices are established through the interference of Gaussian and vortex coupling beams. The input Gaussian probe beam that travels through this lattice experiences phase superposition and is diffracted into vortex‐beam arrays. Moreover, the relative efficiency of the high‐order diffractions can be enhanced by tuning the two‐photon detuning and power of the coupling beams. The enriched diffractive arrays of a vortex probe beam propagating in such forked‐photonic lattices are also presented. The experimental results agree well with those of the numerical simulations. This work suggests that atomic systems are a fertile platform for creating and controlling vortex‐beam arrays, and that they can shed light on ongoing exploration in the fields of optical manipulation and quantum information processing.

DOI
10.1002/lpor.202200667

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Optical vortex arrays (OVAs) containing multiple vortices have been in demand for multi-channel optical communications and multiple-particle trapping. In this Letter, an OVA with tunable intensity and spatial distribution was implemented all-optically in a two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetically induced atomic lattice (EIL). Such a square lattice is constructed by two orthogonal standing-wave fields in 85 R b vapor, resulting in the periodically modulated susceptibility of the probe beam based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). An OVA with dark-hollow intensity distribution based on 2D EIL was observed in the experiment first. This work thus studied the nonlinear 2D EIL process both theoretically and experimentally, presenting, to the best of our knowledge, a novel method of dynamically obtaining and controlling an OVA and further promoting the construction of all-optical networks with atomic ensembles.
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We experimentally investigate the coherently controllable generation and annihilation of a pseudospin-induced optical vortex in an optically induced honeycomb photonic lattice in a Λ-type 85Rb atomic vapor cell. Three Gaussian coupling beams are coupled into the atomic gases to form a hexagonal interference pattern, which can induce a honeycomb photonic lattice under electromagnetically induced transparency. Then, two probe beams interfere with each other to form periodical fringes and cover one set of sublattice in the honeycomb lattice, corresponding to excite the K or K′ valleys in momentum space. By properly adjusting the experimental parameters, the generation and annihilation of the induced optical vortex can be effectively controlled. The theoretical simulations based on the Dirac and Schrödinger equations are performed to explore the underlying mechanisms, which will support the observations. The demonstrated properties of such controllable optical vortex may lay the foundation for the design of vortex-based optical devices with multidimensional tunability.
Airy vortex beams, which integrate orbital angular momentum with diffraction-resistant and self-accelerating characteristics of Airy beams, offer unique capabilities for high-capacity optical communication and high-resolution imaging. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the generation and manipulation of frequency-converted Airy vortex beams through four-wave mixing in hot Rb vapor. A 780 nm vortex beam and a 776 nm two-dimensional Airy beam coherently participate in the four-wave mixing process, generating a 420 nm output beam that combines the orbital angular momentum of the vortex beam with the spatial structure of the Airy beam. The generated beam exhibits pronounced quasi-nondiffracting propagation and self-acceleration, with an intensity decay rate reduced by a factor of ∼1.88 relative to the input vortex beam and a transverse acceleration ∼1.84 times that of the input Airy beam. Moreover, both the intensity and the spatial profile of the generated beam are flexibly manipulated by varying the Rb vapor temperature and the pump beam power. This work provides a versatile approach for generating and controlling structured light at what we believe are new wavelengths, opening opportunities for short-wavelength optical manipulation and optical information processing.