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

Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Dynamic structures created by asymmetric collisions of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a time-varying resonant medium

Olga Diachkova, Mikhail Arkhipov, Nikolay N. Rosanov, Rostislav M. Arkhipov

Published May 14, 2025• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Half-cycle attosecond pulses formed from an electromagnetic field half-wave have the shortest duration in a given spectral interval. When these pulses interact coherently with the medium, new types of spatial structures of population inversion may emerge on each resonant transition. Based on numerical calculations, we examine the possibility of ultrafast control of these structures, such as microcavities, in an asymmetric collision of half-cycle pulses in a medium. We demonstrate that it is possible to create dynamic microcavities with controlled parameters, as well as divide the medium into different regions of near-constant population inversion. The selectivity effect is observed, with deeper structures formed on one transition than another, highlighting the possibility of fine-tuning these processes. The results show that time-dependent media could be realized in a conventional resonant medium with discrete energy levels using half-cycle pulses.

DOI
10.1364/josab.562768

Related papers

Bragg microcavities created by the collision of half-cycle Gaussian and rectangular attosecond light pulses in a time-dependent resonant medium

Rostislav M. Arkhipov, Olga Diachkova, Mikhail Arkhipov +3 more

This paper examines the behavior of dynamic microcavities (DMs) in multi-level resonant media when attosecond unipolar pulses of different shapes (Gaussian and rectangular) collide, acting as 2 π -like self-induced transparency pulses. For realistic quasi-unipolar pulses, the influence of the trailing edge of opposite polarity is investigated, and conditions under which the trailing edge’s effect can be ignored are found analytically and then confirmed by a direct numerical calculation. We demonstrate that the collision of sub-cycle pulses in a medium results in a rapid change of the refractive index both in time and space. Thus, the case considered here of a resonant medium under the action of a sequence of pulses is an example of a time-dependent medium. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of creating time-dependent media in an atomic medium with high polarization relaxation times T 2 , and subsequently controlling them with half-cycle pulses at an extremely short timescale of half of an electromagnetic field oscillation.

Optical Materials Express•Jul 14, 2025•8 citations

Generation and control of population difference gratings in a three-level hydrogen atomic medium using half-cycle attosecond pulses nonoverlapping in the medium

Rostislav M. Arkhipov, Mikhail V. Arkhipov, A. V. Pakhomov +2 more

Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can find many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper studies theoretically the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and transition dipole moments) match those in a hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonant transitions in the medium. We also consider the superradiance of polarization waves and atomic gratings produced by half-cycle pulses.

Physical Review A•Jun 11, 2024•15 citations

Electromagnetically induced gratings created by extremely short non-overlapping pulses of light in a three-level resonant medium

Rostislav M. Arkhipov

Abstract In a fixed spectral range, single- and half-cycle electromagnetic pulses have the shortest duration. Half-cycle pulses are promising tools for ultrafast control of quantum systems. Previously, the possibility of using a sequence of single- and half-cycle attosecond pulses to generate and ultrafast control light-induced population difference gratings has been demonstrated. However, such studies have been carried out using different approximations, such as the sudden perturbation theory and the two-level model for the resonant medium. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of constitutive equations for elements of the density matrix and wave equation it is shown that it is possible to generate and control population gratings in a three-level medium without using the approximation of sudden perturbations used in previous studies. It is shown that taking into account the additional level of the medium does not lead to a violation of the effect of generating such gratings. This extends the applicability of previous results.

Laser Physics•May 3, 2024•4 citations

Bragg-like microcavity formed by collision of single-cycle self-induced transparency light pulses in a resonant medium

Rostislav M. Arkhipov, A. V. Pakhomov, Olga Diachkova +2 more

The coherent interaction of extremely short light pulses with a resonant medium can result in the formation of population difference gratings. Such gratings have been created by pulses that are π/2 or smaller. This paper demonstrates that a microcavity with Bragg-like mirrors can be formed by colliding two single-cycle attosecond self-induced transparency pulses in the center of a two-level medium. The parameters of this structure can be quickly adjusted by increasing the number of collisions, which showcases the ability to control the dynamic properties of the medium on a sub-cycle time scale by using attosecond pulses.

arXiv:2402.09302•Optics Letters•Apr 8, 2024•14 citations

Generation and control of population difference gratings in a three-level hydrogen atomic medium using half-cycle attosecond pulses

Rostislav M. Arkhipov, Mikhail V. Arkhipov, Nikolay N. Rosanov

Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can have many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper theoretically studies the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and dipole moments of the transitions) are close to those found in the hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonance transitions of the medium. In this case, the medium considered is an example of a spatiotemporal photonic crystal. The refractive index varies rapidly in space and time. The possibility of the use of such gratings as Bragg mirrors in ultrafast optics is discussed. The results obtained are of interest in two actively developing areas of modern optics - the physics of half-cycle pulses and space-time photonic crystals.

arXiv:2402.13413•Feb 20, 2024•0 citations

Electromagnetically induced gratings created by extremely short non-overlapping pulses of light in a three-level resonant mediu

Rostislav M. Arkhipov

In a fixed spectral range, single- and half-cycle electromagnetic pulses have the shortest duration. Half-cycle pulses are promising tools for ultrafast control of quantum systems. Previously, the possibility of using a sequence of single- and half-cycle attosecond pulses to generate and ultrafast control light-induced population difference gratings has been demonstrated. However, such studies have been carried out using different approximations. For example, when the medium is modelled in the two-level approximation. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of the system of Maxwell-Bloch equations, it is shown that it is possible to generate and control population gratings in a three-level medium without using the approximations used in previous studies. It is shown that taking into account the additional level of the medium does not lead to a violation of the effect of generating such gratings. This extends the applicability of previous results.

arXiv:2402.11491•Feb 18, 2024•1 citation
Half-cycle attosecond pulses formed from an electromagnetic field half-wave have the shortest duration in a given spectral interval. When these pulses interact coherently with the medium, new types of spatial structures of population inversion may emerge on each resonant transition. Based on numerical calculations, we examine the possibility of ultrafast control of these structures, such as microcavities, in an asymmetric collision of half-cycle pulses in a medium. We demonstrate that it is possible to create dynamic microcavities with controlled parameters, as well as divide the medium into different regions of near-constant population inversion. The selectivity effect is observed, with deeper structures formed on one transition than another, highlighting the possibility of fine-tuning these processes. The results show that time-dependent media could be realized in a conventional resonant medium with discrete energy levels using half-cycle pulses.
This paper examines the behavior of dynamic microcavities (DMs) in multi-level resonant media when attosecond unipolar pulses of different shapes (Gaussian and rectangular) collide, acting as 2 π -like self-induced transparency pulses. For realistic quasi-unipolar pulses, the influence of the trailing edge of opposite polarity is investigated, and conditions under which the trailing edge’s effect can be ignored are found analytically and then confirmed by a direct numerical calculation. We demonstrate that the collision of sub-cycle pulses in a medium results in a rapid change of the refractive index both in time and space. Thus, the case considered here of a resonant medium under the action of a sequence of pulses is an example of a time-dependent medium. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of creating time-dependent media in an atomic medium with high polarization relaxation times T 2 , and subsequently controlling them with half-cycle pulses at an extremely short timescale of half of an electromagnetic field oscillation.
Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can find many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper studies theoretically the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and transition dipole moments) match those in a hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonant transitions in the medium. We also consider the superradiance of polarization waves and atomic gratings produced by half-cycle pulses.
Abstract In a fixed spectral range, single- and half-cycle electromagnetic pulses have the shortest duration. Half-cycle pulses are promising tools for ultrafast control of quantum systems. Previously, the possibility of using a sequence of single- and half-cycle attosecond pulses to generate and ultrafast control light-induced population difference gratings has been demonstrated. However, such studies have been carried out using different approximations, such as the sudden perturbation theory and the two-level model for the resonant medium. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of constitutive equations for elements of the density matrix and wave equation it is shown that it is possible to generate and control population gratings in a three-level medium without using the approximation of sudden perturbations used in previous studies. It is shown that taking into account the additional level of the medium does not lead to a violation of the effect of generating such gratings. This extends the applicability of previous results.
The coherent interaction of extremely short light pulses with a resonant medium can result in the formation of population difference gratings. Such gratings have been created by pulses that are π/2 or smaller. This paper demonstrates that a microcavity with Bragg-like mirrors can be formed by colliding two single-cycle attosecond self-induced transparency pulses in the center of a two-level medium. The parameters of this structure can be quickly adjusted by increasing the number of collisions, which showcases the ability to control the dynamic properties of the medium on a sub-cycle time scale by using attosecond pulses.
Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can have many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper theoretically studies the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and dipole moments of the transitions) are close to those found in the hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonance transitions of the medium. In this case, the medium considered is an example of a spatiotemporal photonic crystal. The refractive index varies rapidly in space and time. The possibility of the use of such gratings as Bragg mirrors in ultrafast optics is discussed. The results obtained are of interest in two actively developing areas of modern optics - the physics of half-cycle pulses and space-time photonic crystals.
In a fixed spectral range, single- and half-cycle electromagnetic pulses have the shortest duration. Half-cycle pulses are promising tools for ultrafast control of quantum systems. Previously, the possibility of using a sequence of single- and half-cycle attosecond pulses to generate and ultrafast control light-induced population difference gratings has been demonstrated. However, such studies have been carried out using different approximations. For example, when the medium is modelled in the two-level approximation. In this paper, based on the numerical solution of the system of Maxwell-Bloch equations, it is shown that it is possible to generate and control population gratings in a three-level medium without using the approximations used in previous studies. It is shown that taking into account the additional level of the medium does not lead to a violation of the effect of generating such gratings. This extends the applicability of previous results.