arXiv:quant-ph/0006096 · Physical Review A
Efficient Raman sideband generation in a coherent atomic medium
Arno Huss, Norbert Peer, Roland Lammegger, Eugeny Korsunsky, Laurentius Windholz
Abstract
We demonstrate the efficient generation of Raman sidebands in a medium coherently prepared in a dark state by continuous-wave low-intensity laser radiation. Our experiment is performed in sodium vapor excited in $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ configuration on the ${D}_{1}$ line by two laser fields of resonant frequencies ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{2},$ and probed by a third field ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{3}.$ First-order sidebands for frequencies ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{1},$ ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{2}$ and up to the third-order sidebands for frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{3}$ are observed. The generation starts at a power as low as 10 \ensuremath{\mu}W for each input field. Dependences of the intensities of both input and generated waves on the frequency difference $({\ensuremath{\omega}}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{2}),$ on the frequency ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{3},$ and on the optical density are investigated.