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Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Probing population-inverted Rb vapors with resonant mid-IR radiation

Nafia Rahaman, Russell McLean, Dmitry Budker, A. M. Akulshin

Published Apr 23, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Mid-infrared radiation at 5.23 µm is used to probe the population-inverted 5D 5/2 →6P 3/2 transition in rubidium atoms, key to a widely studied frequency up-conversion scheme that produces coherent blue light. We find that resonant probe light significantly changes the optical properties of the inverted medium, which exhibits high optical gain. The gain has a complex sensitivity to factors such as pump laser detuning, beam alignment, and atomic density. The results are an important step toward characterizing new optical field generation in alkali atoms.

DOI
10.1364/josab.590939

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Mid-infrared radiation at 5.23 µm is used to probe the population-inverted 5D 5/2 →6P 3/2 transition in rubidium atoms, key to a widely studied frequency up-conversion scheme that produces coherent blue light. We find that resonant probe light significantly changes the optical properties of the inverted medium, which exhibits high optical gain. The gain has a complex sensitivity to factors such as pump laser detuning, beam alignment, and atomic density. The results are an important step toward characterizing new optical field generation in alkali atoms.
The parametric four-wave mixing (4WM) process responsible for the generation of coherent blue light in alkali vapors is a self-seeded process which starts by population inversion and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). Lately, attention has been turned toward frequency up- and down-conversion in alkali vapors, using relatively low pump powers with CW diode lasers. In this Letter, we investigate the interplay between ASE and 4WM in rubidium (Rb) vapors by studying the mid-infrared (mid-IR) radiation emitted in the forward direction at 5.23 μm. We show that the ASE can be suppressed by 4WM in the CW regime. Thus, we demonstrate the generation of coherent mid-IR light at 5.23 μm in hot Rb vapors via parametric 4WM.
We demonstrate how the orientation of the Rb cell can significantly affect the intensity and spectral characteristics of both the frequency up- and downconverted fields generated by nonlinear processes in Rb vapor. The efficiency of parametric wave mixing in Rb vapor excited to the 5D5/2 level by two-color resonant laser light can be significantly increased by seeding the excitation region with coherent and directional radiation at 5.23 μm, which is resonant with the population inverted 6P3/2–5D5/2 transition. It is shown that the process of velocity-insensitive two-photon excitation is central to understanding the observed coherent blue and mid-IR light enhancements, and that velocity-insensitive and velocity-selective two-photon excitations could produce two co-existing but spectrally and spatially distinguishable mid-IR fields at 5.23 μm.
We demonstrate production of continuous coherent blue laser light by using a five-level system in rubidium vapor. Two low-power lasers, at 780 and 776 nm, induce strong atomic coherence in the 5S-5P-5D states. The atoms decay to the 6P excited state, from which stimulated emission produces a coherent blue (420 nm) beam. We have coupled both ground-state hyperfine levels, effecting coherence between four levels. The coherent blue output is enhanced by several mechanisms, including stronger coupling to a larger fraction of the atomic population, operation at a detuning such that the vapor is nominally transparent to the 780 nm pump field, reduced losses owing to optical pumping, and optimal phase matching. We report experimental findings and compare them with results from a semiclassical Maxwell-Bloch model.
Population inversion on the 5D5/2−6P3/2 transition in rubidium atoms produced by cw laser excitation at different wavelengths has been analyzed by comparing the generated mid-infrared radiation at 5.23 μm originating from amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and isotropic blue fluorescence at 420 nm. Using a novel method for detection of two-photon excitation via ASE, we have observed directional co- and counter-propagating emission at 5.23 μm. Evidence of a threshold-like characteristic is found in the ASE dependences on laser detuning and Rb number density. The power dependences of the backward- and forward-directed emission can be very similar; however, their spectral dependences are not identical. A new type of temporally and spatially coherent radiation is suggested.
The exceptional nonlinearity of alkali-metal vapors enables highly efficient nonlinear optical processes even at relatively low optical intensities. However, such processes have traditionally relied on centimeter-scale vapor cells. Here, we utilize a versatile chip-scale Rb vapor platform to generate coherent blue and mid-IR light in continuous-wave mode by means of resonant four-wave mixing. Optimized optical overlap with the atomic medium enables blue light generation of $\sim$20 μμμW over a very short interaction length, while maintaining a directly measured linewidth of $\sim$1 MHz, which is presently limited by the measurement apparatus. Comparison with a conventional glassblown vapor cell further shows that the micromachined platform can achieve higher coherent blue-light generation efficiency despite its substantially shorter interaction length. Moreover, an anodically bonded Si window enables to detect coherent mid-IR emission with collected powers of $\sim$50 nW. We further characterize the temperature dependence and input-power scaling of the blue emission, confirming efficient nonlinear conversion within these compact vapor cells. This chip-scale platform provides a versatile foundation for a range of nonlinear optical functions, from precise wavelength references and quantum light sources to next-generation quantum sensors.
We demonstrate highly efficient generation of coherent 420 nm light via up-conversion of near-infrared lasers in a hot rubidium vapor cell. By optimizing pump polarizations and frequencies we achieve a single-pass conversion efficiency of 260% per Watt, significantly higher than in previous experiments. A full exploration of the coherent light generation and fluorescence as a function of both pump frequencies reveals that coherent blue light is generated close to (85)Rb two-photon resonances, as predicted by theory, but at high vapor pressure is suppressed in spectral regions that do not support phase matching or exhibit single-photon Kerr refraction. Favorable scaling of our current 1 mW blue beam power with additional pump power is predicted.