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Optics Continuum

Controlling quantum interference in a four-level atomic system using a driving field

Thi-Thuy Nguyen, Chin‐Chun Tsai

Published Jan 28, 2025• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

We study the light-atom interaction in a four-level atomic system in a ladder-vee type configuration employing the density matrix formalism with exact numerical solutions. By varying the third driving strength, we achieve continuous control over the quantum interference of the system, shifting it from destructive to constructive interference. Our analysis reveals a narrow existence window for the EIT signal when the driving field is active, suggesting effective control ability. Finally, we propose the required driving Rabi frequency as a function of the given coupling Rabi frequency to achieve a 90% reduction in EIT magnitude, effectively altering the quantum interference by a π /2 phase shift.

DOI
10.1364/optcon.548061

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We study the light-atom interaction in a four-level atomic system in a ladder-vee type configuration employing the density matrix formalism with exact numerical solutions. By varying the third driving strength, we achieve continuous control over the quantum interference of the system, shifting it from destructive to constructive interference. Our analysis reveals a narrow existence window for the EIT signal when the driving field is active, suggesting effective control ability. Finally, we propose the required driving Rabi frequency as a function of the given coupling Rabi frequency to achieve a 90% reduction in EIT magnitude, effectively altering the quantum interference by a π /2 phase shift.
Atomic coherence and interference manifested by electromagentically induced transparency (EIT) and coherent population trapping (CPT) plays an important role in the current studies of atom-photon interactions and has found numerous applications in optical physics. EIT is created in a three-level atomic system by a coupling field and results in destructive interference between two excitation paths of a weak probe laser interacting with the atomic medium. This leads to suppressed linear absorption and rapidly varying atomic dispersion for the probe laser near the atomic resonance, which provides the platform for a variety of applications such as nonlinear optics at low light levels, slow light manipulation, and quantum state engineering for photons and atoms. Here we extend the simple three-level EIT system to more complicated and versatile configurations in a multi-level atomic system coupled by multiple laser fields. We show that with multiple excitation paths provided by different laser fields, phase-dependent quantum interference is induced: either constructive or destructive interference can be realized by varying the relative phases among the laser fields. Two specific examples are discussed. One is a three-level system coupled by bichromatic coupling and probe fields, in which the phase dependent interference between the resonant two-photon Raman transitions can be initiated and controlled. Another is a four-level system coupled by two coupling fields and two probe fields, in which a double-EIT configuration is created by the phase-dependent interference between three-photon and one-photon excitation processes. We analyze the coherently coupled multi-level atomic system and discuss the control parameters for the onset of constructive or destructive quantum interference. We describe two experiments performed with cold Rb atoms that can be approximately treated as the coherently coupled three-level and four-level atomic systems respectively. The experimental results show the phase-dependent quantum coherence and interference in the multi-level Rb atomic system, and agree with the theoretical calculations based on the coherently coupled three-level or four-level model system.
Using density matrix eqution, the absorption and dispersion properties of a A-type four-level system driven by coherent fields are investigated. The result obtained by means of numerical method indicates that by adjusting the intensity of Rabi frequencies of the coherent field in the steady state, three, double or single electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) can appear explicitly in this system. And the explanations of these phenomena are given by using the dressed states. In the three EIT, the location of transparent windows can be manipulated by controlling the detuning of the driving field. What's more, it is also found that the medium shows a large refractive index at each transparency window, and the group velocity of the probe laser can be enhanced.
The quantum interference in the spontaneous-emission spectrum of a driven atom, when the upper level of the atomic transition is coupled to a third level via a classical driving field, results in a dark line in the absence of the atomic decays. The existence of the dark line is independent of the Rabi frequency associated with the driving field. There is no such dark line in the spontaneous-emission spectrum when, instead of the upper level, the lower level is coupled to a third level via a driving field. In this paper, we include the level decays, incoherent pumping, and the finite bandwidth of the driving field in our analysis and study their role in the spontaneous-emission spectrum in the two configurations.
The appearance of quantum interference in the microscopic world is one of the deepest mysteries at the very root of quantum mechanics. When light interacts with atoms, it can induce transitions by way of distinct but indistinguishable pathways and yield unexpected and often counter-intuitive results. Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), Coherent Population Trapping (CPT), and Lasing Without Inversion (LWI) are modern examples of phenomena where the traditional rules that govern absorption and dispersion undergo major revisions. Spectacular consequences of this new state of affairs include the ability of a light beam to propagate through a normally absorbing medium with little or no absorption, or to undergo amplification even if the active medium is not prepared in a state of population inversion. Light signals have been shown to travel with strongly subluminal group velocities of only a handful of meters per second and, even, to propagate at speed greater than the ordinary speed of light, but without violation of causality or of the established rules that control the transfer of optical information through space. Three-level atoms can interact with two coherent electromagnetic fields according to three different systems, known as Cascade, Lambda and Vee systems. The propagation of a weak probe field can be deeply affected by the presence of a second stronger beam, the so-called coupling field. Transparency windows, splitting of emission and absorption lines and enormously enhanced dispersion have been documented in numerous experiments. In this thesis we explore the physical origin of the transparency induced in these systems by the simultaneous interplay of the coupling and probe fields. We focus our attention on the Cascade system and study its two configurations, Cascade-EIT and Cascade-AT. We develop a variety of complementary approaches for the description of these two configurations, some semiclassical and others fully quantum mechanical. We prove the existence of quantum interference in Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and also the surprising absence of interference in a closely related phenomenon, known as the Autler-Townes effect. Finally we complement the traditional machinery of theoretical quantum optics with techniques borrowed from quantum scattering theory, and offer what we believe is the most convincing physical evidence for the appearance, or for the absence, of quantum interference effects.
In this paper we study the quantum interference effects of a quasi-Λ-type four-level atom system interacting with two light fields. When the probe field is weak, our calculations show that along with the change of Rabi frequencies of the driving field, the system appears to be hole burning in the dispersion curve,and two big electromagnetic induced transparency windows with approximately the same width are demonstrated. In addition, the evolution of dispersion with the Rabi phase of probe field shows optical bistability.
We propose a scheme for controlling coherent photon absorption by electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a three-level atom-cavity system. Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) occurs when time-reversed symmetry of lasing process is obtained with the destructive interference at the cavity interfaces. The frequency range of CPA is generally dependent on the decay rates of the cavity mirrors. The smaller decay rate of the cavity mirror causes the wider frequency range of CPA, and the needed intensity of the probe fields is larger to satisfy CPA condition for a given frequency. Although Rabi frequency of the control laser has little effect on the frequency range of CPA, with EIT-type quantum interference, the CPA mode is tunable by the control laser. In addition, with the relative phase, the probe fields can be perfectly transmitted and/or reflected. Therefore, the system can be used as a controllable coherent perfect absorber or transmitter (reflector), and our work may have practical applications in optical logic devices.