Cooperative radiation close to a phase-conjugate mirror

G. S. Agarwal

Erik J. Bochove

The spontaneous radiation of a classical oscillator and that of a two-level atom both in the vicinity of a phase-conjugate mirror are calculated and compared. In either case the phase-conjugate mirror may be replaced by a phase-conjugate "image" of the source. We study the dependence of the decay constants and the characteristic frequencies on the phase-conjugate reflectivity and the difference between the characteristic frequency of the radiator and the pump frequency of the phase-conjugate mirror.

M. C. Gower

Erik J. Bochove

The interaction of a radiating dipole with a phase conjugate mirror (PCM) is enhanced due to wavefront reversal by the PCM as well as by possible gain. Moreover, decay at two frequencies is predicted when ω o = ω m and 4(α r + αnr) d/c ≪ 1, where ω o = free oscillation frequency of the dipole, ω m = pump frequency of PCM (four-wave mixing), α r , and α nr are the radiative and nonradiative decay rates, respectively, and d is the effective distance to the PCM. Decay at multiple frequencies is predicted when 4(α r + α nr ) d/c ≳ 1. Locking of decay frequencies to the pump frequency is predicted at a critical pump intensity and at a second critical point the dipole gains energy from the PCM.

Erik J. Bochove

The interaction of a dipole radiator with a phase-conjugate mirror through a quantized radiation field leads to dramatic enhancement of the nonlinearity if the radiator is a slightly anharmonic oscillator. Quantum noise from the conjugator saturates the linear and nonlinear response of a two-level radiator when the reflectivity exceeds unity.

Carlos L. Pando Lambruschini, Hilda A. Cerdeira