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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Attosecond quantum control of optical microcavities via unipolar rectangular light pulses

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

Published Oct 8, 2025• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Unipolar light pulses with non-zero electric area enable ultrafast control of quantum systems, requiring tailored temporal shapes like rectangular pulses for efficient atomic manipulation. Such pulses induce unique phenomena, including dynamic microcavities at resonant transitions in multilevel media. Here, we compare microcavity dynamics in two- and three-level media under rectangular unipolar pulse excitation via numerical solutions of the density matrix and wave equations. Unlike Gaussian pulses, rectangular pulses exhibit starkly different dynamics in a three-level medium, disrupting self-induced transparency-like regimes. Key differences emerge when pulses behave as 2 π pulses, highlighting the impact of the third level on microcavity dynamics. These findings establish rectangular unipolar attosecond pulses as a powerful tool for attosecond-scale quantum control, revealing fundamental limits of few-level approximations in extreme nonlinear optics and opening pathways to coherent light–matter engineering in complex atomic systems.

DOI
10.1364/josab.565722

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Unipolar light pulses with non-zero electric area enable ultrafast control of quantum systems, requiring tailored temporal shapes like rectangular pulses for efficient atomic manipulation. Such pulses induce unique phenomena, including dynamic microcavities at resonant transitions in multilevel media. Here, we compare microcavity dynamics in two- and three-level media under rectangular unipolar pulse excitation via numerical solutions of the density matrix and wave equations. Unlike Gaussian pulses, rectangular pulses exhibit starkly different dynamics in a three-level medium, disrupting self-induced transparency-like regimes. Key differences emerge when pulses behave as 2 π pulses, highlighting the impact of the third level on microcavity dynamics. These findings establish rectangular unipolar attosecond pulses as a powerful tool for attosecond-scale quantum control, revealing fundamental limits of few-level approximations in extreme nonlinear optics and opening pathways to coherent light–matter engineering in complex atomic systems.
Unipolar light pulses with a non-zero electric area due to the unidirectional action on charged particles can be used for the ultrafast control of the properties of quantum systems. To control atomic properties in an efficient way, it is necessary to vary the temporal shape of the pulses used. This has led to the problem of obtaining pulses of an unusual shape, such as a rectangular one. A number of new phenomena, not possible with conventional multi-cycle pulses, were discovered by analyzing the interaction of such unipolar pulses with matter. These include the formation of dynamic microcavities at each resonant transition of a multilevel medium when such pulses collide with the medium. In this work, we compare the behavior of dynamic microcavities in a two-level and a three-level medium when unipolar pulses of unusual shape (rectangular) are collided with the medium. We do this on the basis of the numerical solution of the system for the density matrix of the medium and the wave equation for the electric field. Medium parameters correspond to atomic hydrogen. It is shown that for rectangular pulses in a three-level medium, the dynamics of the cavities can be very different from the two-level model, as opposed to pulses of other shapes (e.g. Gaussian shape). When the third level of the medium is taken into account, the self-induced transparency-like regime disappears. Differences in the dynamics of resonators in a three-level medium are revealed when the pulses behave like 2π pulses of self-induced transparency.
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.
Abstract Recently, the possibility of obtaining non-harmonic unipolar electromagnetic pulses with a specific electric field strength’s dependence on time (e.g. a rectangular pulse) has been actively discussed in optics. Unipolar pulses have a nonzero electric area and a wide spectrum: from zero frequency up to the visible region. This could open up wide application of such pulses, for example, for faster and more efficient control of the quantum systems’ properties with a high temporal resolution compared to conventional bipolar multicycle pulses. In this paper, based on an approximate solution of the time dependent Schrödinger equation and a numerical solution of the equation system for the density matrix, we show the possibility of creating electromagnetically induced population density gratings in an atomic medium using a pair of unipolar rectangular attosecond light pulses that do not overlap in the medium. The formation of such gratings can be explained on the basis of the concept of ‘interference’ of electric pulse areas, recently introduced into optics.
Abstract We report an analytical and numerical study of the dynamics of electromagnetically induced atomic population gratings during collisions of a sequence of unipolar pulses of unusual temporal shape (rectangular and triangular) in a multilevel resonant medium. The possibility of forming dynamic microcavities with Bragg-like mirrors, the shape of which is different at each resonant transition of the medium, is demonstrated. A simple analytical description of such microresonators is proposed based on an approximate solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation when the amplitude of the exciting pulses is small. In the case of high-power pulses, when perturbation theory is not applicable, the results of numerical calculations show the disappearance of microcavities and the emergence of nonharmonic gratings with an increase in the number of collisions between pulses. The studied phenomena demonstrate a possibility of using unipolar pulses of an unusual shape for ultrafast control of the medium properties.
Attosecond pulses can be used to create and control coherence in resonant media, since their duration is shorter than the population relaxation times T1 and medium polarization T2. Previously, the possibility of creating and ultrafast control of electromagnetically induced gratings (EMIG) of atomic populations in a resonant medium was shown using a sequence of extremely short light pulses, when the pulses coherently interact with the medium and do not simultaneously overlap in the medium. These studies were carried out in various approximations, when a finite number of energy levels of the medium is taken into account, or when the pulse amplitude is small. In this paper, based on a direct numerical solution of the time dependent Schredinger equation without the indicated approximations, we study the possibility of ultrafast coherent control of populations and the creation of an EMIG by a pair of attosecond pulses in a multilevel resonant medium with a low density of particles. The medium is modeled using a one-dimensional rectangular potential well with infinitely high walls. The studies performed show the possibility of ultrafast coherent control of the properties of resonant media based on quantum wells using attosecond pulses. Keywords: electromagnetically induced gratings, coherent interaction, extremely short pulses, unipolar pulses, attosecond pulses, medium coherence.
Abstract Attosecond pulses can be used to create and control coherence in resonant media, since their duration is shorter than the population relaxation times T1 and medium polarization T2. Previously, the possibility of creating and ultrafast control of electromagnetically induced gratings (EMIG) of atomic populations in a resonant medium was shown using a sequence of extremely short light pulses, when the pulses coherently interact with the medium and do not simultaneously overlap in the medium. These studies were carried out in various approximations, when a finite number of energy levels of the medium is taken into account, or when the pulse amplitude is small. In this paper, based on a direct numerical solution of the time dependent Schrödinger equation without the indicated approximations, we study the possibility of ultrafast coherent control of populations and the creation of an EMIG by a pair of attosecond pulses in a multilevel resonant medium with a low density of particles. The medium is modeled using a one-dimensional rectangular potential well with infinitely high walls. The studies performed show the possibility of ultrafast coherent control of the properties of resonant media based on quantum wells using attosecond pulses.