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Annual Meeting Optical Society of America

Uniform asymptotic description of ultrashort Gaussian pulse dispersion

Kurt Edmund Oughstun, Judith E. K. Laurens

Published Jan 1, 1989• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The uniform asymptotic description of the propagation of an input Gaussian modulated harmonic signal of fixed angular frequency ω c and initial pulse width T into the half-space z > 0 that is occupied by a single resonance Lorentz medium is described. The asymptotic theory shows that the propagated field can be expressed solely in terms of a generalized Sommerfeld and Brillouin precursor field structure. If the applied signal frequency ω c is either below or near the medium resonance frequency, the propagated field is found to be dominated by the generalized Brillouin precursor field, while if ω c is well above the medium resonance frequency it is dominated by the generalized Sommerfeld precursor field. The resultant pulse distortion in the dispersive medium is shown to be due solely to the manner in which the initial Gaussian pulse envelope spectrum modifies the precursor field amplitude. Finally, the frequency dependence of the pulse velocity in the single resonance Lorentz medium is described.

DOI
10.1364/oam.1989.tuf3

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Journal of the Optical Society of America B•May 1, 1989•60 citations
The uniform asymptotic description of the propagation of an input Gaussian modulated harmonic signal of fixed angular frequency ω c and initial pulse width T into the half-space z > 0 that is occupied by a single resonance Lorentz medium is described. The asymptotic theory shows that the propagated field can be expressed solely in terms of a generalized Sommerfeld and Brillouin precursor field structure. If the applied signal frequency ω c is either below or near the medium resonance frequency, the propagated field is found to be dominated by the generalized Brillouin precursor field, while if ω c is well above the medium resonance frequency it is dominated by the generalized Sommerfeld precursor field. The resultant pulse distortion in the dispersive medium is shown to be due solely to the manner in which the initial Gaussian pulse envelope spectrum modifies the precursor field amplitude. Finally, the frequency dependence of the pulse velocity in the single resonance Lorentz medium is described.
The uniform asymptotic description of the propagation of an input rectangle-modulated harmonic signal of angular frequency ω c and initial pulse width T into the half-space z ᐳ 0 that is occupied by a single resonance Lorentz medium is described. The asymptotic description is developed by representing the input rectangular pulse as the difference between two Heaviside unit step-function modulated signals that are separated in time by the initial pulse width T. This representation clearly shows that the resultant pulse distortion in the dispersive medium is solely due to the Sommerfeld and Brillouin precursor fields that are associated with the leading and trailing edges of the input pulse. The dynamic evolution of the pulse with increasing propagation distance z ᐳ 0 is described for both long and very short initial pulse widths T. In both cases it is shown that the pulse distortion becomes severe when the propagation distance z is such that the precursor fields associated with the trailing edge of the pulse interfere with the precursor fields associated with the leading edge.
The uniform asymptotic description of the propagation of an input rectangle-modulated harmonic signal of fixed angular frequency ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\omega}}}_{\mathit{c}}$ and initial pulse width T into the half-space z>0 that is occupied by a single-resonance Lorentz medium is presented. The asymptotic description is developed by representing the input rectangular pulse as the difference between two Heaviside-unit-step-function-modulated signals that are separated in time by the initial pulse width T. This representation clearly shows that the resultant pulse distortion in the dispersive medium is primarily due to the Sommerfeld and Brillouin precursor fields that are associated with the leading and trailing edges of the input pulse. The dynamical pulse evolution with increasing propagation distance z>0 is completely described for both long and very short initial pulse widths T. In both cases it is shown that the pulse distortion becomes severe when the propagation distance z is such that the precursor fields associated with the trailing edge of the pulse interfere with the precursor fields associated with the leading edge. Finally, the asymptotic theory clearly shows that the main body of the pulse propagates with the signal velocity in the dispersive medium.
This article mainly deals with the propagation of step-modulated light pulses in a dense Lorentz medium at distances such that the medium is opaque in a broad spectral region including the carrier frequency. The transmitted field is then reduced to the celebrated precursors of Sommerfeld and Brillouin, far apart from each other. We obtain simple analytical expressions of the first (Sommerfeld) precursor, whose shape only depends on the order of the initial discontinuity of the incident field and whose amplitude rapidly decreases with this order (rise-time effects). We show that, in a strictly asymptotic limit, the second (Brillouin) precursor is entirely determined by the frequency dependence of the medium attenuation and has a Gaussian or Gaussian-derivative shape. We point out that this result applies to the precursor directly observed in a Debye medium at decimetric wavelengths. When attenuation and group-delay dispersion both contribute to its formation, we establish a more general expression of the Brillouin precursor, containing the previous one (dominant-attenuation limit) and that obtained by Brillouin (dominant-dispersion limit) as particular cases. We finally study the propagation of square or Gaussian pulses, and we determine the pulse parameters optimizing the Brillouin precursor. Obtained by standard Laplace-Fourier procedures, our results are explicit and contrast in their simplicity those derived by the uniform saddle-point methods, from which it is difficult to retrieve our asymptotic forms.
An asymptotic approach is utilized in order to obtain a unified description of the propagated field dynamics due to an input Gaussian-modulated harmonic wave of arbitrary initial pulse width in a linear, causally dispersive gain medium, described by the single resonance Lorentz model. The asymptotic method of analysis is applied on the unified, exact integral representation of the propagated field, which is characterized by a unified complex phase function that depends upon the input field and gain medium parameters as well as upon the propagation distance in the medium. In order to apply the asymptotic method, an analysis of the evolution of the saddle point locations, which depend upon the dispersive properties of the gain medium, the temporal width, and the carrier frequency of the input Gaussian pulse as well as upon the propagation distance and of the topography of the real part of the unified phase function in the complex ω plane, must be performed. Upon the subsequent numerical application of the asymptotic method, the predictions of the unified asymptotic approach are found to be in exceptional agreement with the respective results of a purely numerical experiment for all considered initial pulse widths and lead to a unified model of Gaussian pulse propagation in a gain Lorentzian medium. According to this model, the propagated field is composed of pulse components, each being due to the asymptotic contribution of a respective relevant saddle point of the unified phase function. The instantaneous angular frequency of oscillation and the stationary point(s) of the envelope of each such pulse component are then obtained from the real and imaginary parts, respectively, of the corresponding relevant saddle point as it evolves in the complex ω plane. This theoretical approach may then yield particularly useful physical insights into attosecond pulse propagation.
To obtain a more complete understanding of the effects of temporal dispersion on the propagation dynamics of optical pulses in a physically realistic medium, we have examined the classical problem of dispersive pulse propagation in a Lorentz model medium that is characterized by two separate resonance frequencies. Both an input delta-function pulse and an input unit step-function modulated signal with carrier frequency ωc are considered. In each case the dynamic evolution of the propagated field is described in terms of the dynamics of the saddle points in the complex ω plane that are associated with the complex phase function appearing in the integral representation of the field. The appearance of a new precursor field, separate from the well-known Sommerfeld and Brillouin precursor fields, is shown to appear when the two resonance frequencies of the medium are sufficiently separated. Finally, the signal velocity that is characteristic of the field contribution oscillating at the applied carrier frequency ωc is obtained. These results are illustrated with numerical solutions that depict the entire evolution of the propagated field.
The propagation of electromagnetic pulses in a linear, dispersive Lorentz medium with two isolated resonance frequencies is presented within the context of the classical theory due to Sommerfeld and Brillouin. Particular attention is given to the modification of the dynamical field evolution when one proceeds from a single-resonance to a double-resonance medium. The appearance of a new field structure in the precursor field evolution is obtained, and the conditions for its evolution are described. The signal velocity for a pulsed field is obtained and compared with the energy-transport velocity in a double-resonance medium both when the conditions for the evolution of the modified precursor field structure are satisfied as well as when they are not satisfied and it is absent from the total propagated field structure.