Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Annual Meeting Optical Society of America

Observation of polarization instabilities and chaos

Daniel J. Gauthier, Michelle S. Malcuit, Robert W. Boyd

Published Jan 1, 1988• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have observed that the polarizations and intensities of counterpropagating laser beams in sodium vapor are temporally unstable. The output from a stabilized dye laser tuned near to the 3S1/2 → 3P1/2 atomic transition was split to form the two counterpropagating beams. These beams were polarized with the same linear polarization and were weakly focused to a spot size of ~750 μm in sodium vapor having a density of ~3 × 1013 cm−3. We monitored the light generated in the polarization orthogonal to that of the pump beams. For a detuning of 1.01 GHz to the high-frequency side of the 3S1/2(F = 2) → 3P1/2(F = 2) transition and a power of 160 mW in one of the beams, we found that the threshold for the instability occurred at a power of 15 mW in the other beam. Slightly above threshold, the instability was found to be periodic in nature. As the intensity in the counterpropagating beam was increased far above the threshold value, wild fluctuations in the polarizations and intensities of the transmitted beams were observed. We have found that these fluctuations are chaotic and that the system evolves on a strange attractor whose dimension increases with increasing laser power. These observations are in qualitative agreement with the theoretical predictions of Gaeta et al.,1 which predict that the polarizations of counterpropagating beams in a Kerr medium are unstable to the growth of temporal fluctuations.

DOI
10.1364/oam.1988.tuv6

Related papers

Polarization instabilities of counterpropagating laser beams in sodium vapor

Daniel J. Gauthier, Michelle S. Malcuit, Robert W. Boyd

We have observed temporal instabilities in the polarizations of counterpropagating laser beams in atomic sodium vapor. For intensities slightly above the instability threshold, the polarizations fluctuate periodically. For higher intensities, the fluctuations are chaotic and the system evolves on a strange attractor whose fractal dimension increases with increasing laser intensity.

Physical Review Letters•Oct 17, 1988•60 citations

Polarization instabilities in an isotropic nonlinear Kerr medium

Alexander L. Gaeta, Robert W. Boyd

The steady-state polarizations of fields counterpropagating in nonlinear Kerr media can exhibit complicated behavior.1 We examine the temporal behavior for the case of an isotropic nonlinear Kerr medium and show that the polarizations are temporally unstable above a certain threshold intensity, even when the input polarizations are linear and parallel to each other. This polarization configuration is known to be spatially stable and is often chosen for the two strong pump waves in phase conjugation by degenerate four-wave mixing. We find that the threshold intensity for the polarization instability is approximately the intensity at which the phase conjugate reflectivity is equal to unity. Depending on the ratio of the two input intensities, this instability just above threshold can manifest itself as an abrupt rotation of the output polarizations to a new steady-state value or as a periodic oscillation of the output polarizations. At higher intensities the polarization can evolve chaotically in time, and depending on the ratio of the transit time through the medium to the response time of the medium the output intensity can fluctuate chaotically as well.

Annual Meeting Optical Society of America•Jan 1, 1987•0 citations

Observation of single-beam polarization instabilities in sodium vapor

J. Nalik, Michael Krueger, Wulfhard K. Lange

We report on instabilities in the polarization when the output of a cw dye laser is transmitted through sodium vapor. In /contrast to related recent experiments neither external resonators1,2 nor counterpropagating beams2,3 are used.

•May 21, 1990•0 citations

Using nuclear spins, radio waves, sodium atoms, and laser light to investigate spatiotemporal nonlinear systems

Reto Holzner, Josef Simonet, L. Flepp +6 more

Within the wide field of nonlinear dynamics we investigate temporal and spatial behavior of electromagnetic systems. A strange type of laser, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) laser, shows truly chaotic behavior and is therefore ideally suited to analyze experimentally and theoretically a variety of temporal nonlinear effects. Of particular interest is the analysis of its strange attractors in terms of unstable periodic orbits. For the extension of our research from the NMR laser (representing a purely temporal system described by the Bloch-Kirchhoff ordinary differential equations) to spatial and spatiotemporal systems, we chose, as a three-dimensional dynamic system, polarized laser beams interacting nonlinearly with sodium atoms. Among other effects, we have observed beam bouncing, beam splitting, and beam switching. This can be well described by partial differential equations for beam propagation derived from the Schrödinger equation and the Maxwell equations. An intuitive explanation is given in terms of intensity and polarization patterns formed by optical-pumping-induced mutual refractive index modifications between polarized resonant laser beams.

Optical Engineering•Aug 1, 1995•1 citation

Quantum spatial correlations of optical beams counterpropagating in Kerr media

Isabel Pérez–Arjona, A. Gatti

This study focuses on the case of a system consisting of a Kerr medium of thickness L, within which two beams, with forward (F) and backward (B) amplitudes, counterpropagate. A classical model for this system predicted the existence of a transverse modulational instability (MI) above a suitable threshold of the pump beam intensities. Instabilities of similar nature have been experimentally observed e.g. in sodium or rubidium vapors.

European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC)•Jan 1, 2003•0 citations

Instabilities of counterpropagating vector waves in a nonlinear Kerr medium

Alexander L. Gaeta, Robert W. Boyd, Jay R. Ackerhalt +1 more

Instabilities in the interaction of counterpropagating laser beams in a nonlinear medium can have important consequences for nonlinear optical processes such as optical bistability and phase conjugation. We have performed a theoretical study of the polarization characteristics of two counterpropagating waves in an isotropic Kerr medium in order to determine the stability of the multivalued solutions found by previous workers.1 Our method involves numerical integration of the coupled-amplitude equations describing the spatial and temporal evolution of the counterpropagating vector waves.2 Our results show that the multiply stable solutions for the output polarizations of the two vector fields show hysteresis, and that the order in which the two fields are turned on determines which solution is reached. For even higher input intensities we find that the output polarizations fluctuate in time.

Annual Meeting Optical Society of America•Jan 1, 1986•1 citation
We have observed that the polarizations and intensities of counterpropagating laser beams in sodium vapor are temporally unstable. The output from a stabilized dye laser tuned near to the 3S1/2 → 3P1/2 atomic transition was split to form the two counterpropagating beams. These beams were polarized with the same linear polarization and were weakly focused to a spot size of ~750 μm in sodium vapor having a density of ~3 × 1013 cm−3. We monitored the light generated in the polarization orthogonal to that of the pump beams. For a detuning of 1.01 GHz to the high-frequency side of the 3S1/2(F = 2) → 3P1/2(F = 2) transition and a power of 160 mW in one of the beams, we found that the threshold for the instability occurred at a power of 15 mW in the other beam. Slightly above threshold, the instability was found to be periodic in nature. As the intensity in the counterpropagating beam was increased far above the threshold value, wild fluctuations in the polarizations and intensities of the transmitted beams were observed. We have found that these fluctuations are chaotic and that the system evolves on a strange attractor whose dimension increases with increasing laser power. These observations are in qualitative agreement with the theoretical predictions of Gaeta et al.,1 which predict that the polarizations of counterpropagating beams in a Kerr medium are unstable to the growth of temporal fluctuations.
The steady-state polarizations of fields counterpropagating in nonlinear Kerr media can exhibit complicated behavior.1 We examine the temporal behavior for the case of an isotropic nonlinear Kerr medium and show that the polarizations are temporally unstable above a certain threshold intensity, even when the input polarizations are linear and parallel to each other. This polarization configuration is known to be spatially stable and is often chosen for the two strong pump waves in phase conjugation by degenerate four-wave mixing. We find that the threshold intensity for the polarization instability is approximately the intensity at which the phase conjugate reflectivity is equal to unity. Depending on the ratio of the two input intensities, this instability just above threshold can manifest itself as an abrupt rotation of the output polarizations to a new steady-state value or as a periodic oscillation of the output polarizations. At higher intensities the polarization can evolve chaotically in time, and depending on the ratio of the transit time through the medium to the response time of the medium the output intensity can fluctuate chaotically as well.
Within the wide field of nonlinear dynamics we investigate temporal and spatial behavior of electromagnetic systems. A strange type of laser, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) laser, shows truly chaotic behavior and is therefore ideally suited to analyze experimentally and theoretically a variety of temporal nonlinear effects. Of particular interest is the analysis of its strange attractors in terms of unstable periodic orbits. For the extension of our research from the NMR laser (representing a purely temporal system described by the Bloch-Kirchhoff ordinary differential equations) to spatial and spatiotemporal systems, we chose, as a three-dimensional dynamic system, polarized laser beams interacting nonlinearly with sodium atoms. Among other effects, we have observed beam bouncing, beam splitting, and beam switching. This can be well described by partial differential equations for beam propagation derived from the Schrödinger equation and the Maxwell equations. An intuitive explanation is given in terms of intensity and polarization patterns formed by optical-pumping-induced mutual refractive index modifications between polarized resonant laser beams.
Instabilities in the interaction of counterpropagating laser beams in a nonlinear medium can have important consequences for nonlinear optical processes such as optical bistability and phase conjugation. We have performed a theoretical study of the polarization characteristics of two counterpropagating waves in an isotropic Kerr medium in order to determine the stability of the multivalued solutions found by previous workers.1 Our method involves numerical integration of the coupled-amplitude equations describing the spatial and temporal evolution of the counterpropagating vector waves.2 Our results show that the multiply stable solutions for the output polarizations of the two vector fields show hysteresis, and that the order in which the two fields are turned on determines which solution is reached. For even higher input intensities we find that the output polarizations fluctuate in time.