Tunneling dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates with higher-order interactions in optical lattice

The nonlinear Landau-Zener tunneling and nonlinear Rabi oscillations of Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with higher-order atomic interaction between the Bloch bands in an accelerating optical lattice are discussed. Within the two-level model, the tunneling probability of BEC with higher-order atomic interaction between Bloch bands is obtained. We finds that the tunneling rate is closely related to the higher-order atomic interaction. Furthermore, the nonlinear Rabi oscillations of BEC with higher-order atomic interaction between the bands are discussed by imposing a periodic modulation on the level bias. Analytical expressions of the critical higher-order atomic interaction for suppressing/enhancing the Rabi oscillations are obtained. It is shown that the critical value strongly depends on the modulation parameters (i.e., the modulation amplitude and frequency) and the strength of periodic potential.     

Rabi-oscillation-enhanced frequency conversion in quantum-dot semiconductor optical amplifiers

We investigate the nonlinear light propagation in InAs/InGaAs quantum-dot-in-a-well semiconductor optical amplifiers in the limit of strong optical excitation where Rabi oscillations are excited in the active medium. The amplifier is analyzed in a degenerate four-wave-mixing setup and characterized by its frequency conversion and creation performance. Our simulations show that the interplay between the nonlinear four-wave-mixing process and the coherent Rabi oscillations greatly influences the frequency conversion process. Rabi oscillations can be resonantly excited by the correct choice of the frequency detuning between pump and probe signals, which greatly enhances the nonlinear frequency conversion efficiency at frequencies up to several THz. We furthermore show that the coherent pulse shaping of ultrashort optical pulses in the quantum-dot medium can greatly enhance their spectral bandwidth, potentially allowing for ultra-broad-band frequency comb generation.     

Effects of atomic motion in a standing-wave laser field on the Rabi oscillations

We study the effects of the two-level-atom motion in a standing-wave laser field on the Rabi oscillations. In the presence of the resonance optical Stern–Gerlach effect, the atomic wave packet, centered initially at a node of the standing wave, is shown to evolve in such a way that the atomic population inversion remains zero when the initially de-excited atom moves between the nodes, then collapses to the ground level upon crossing the nodes, and practically returns to zero after that. This coherent population trapping is explained in the dressed-state picture. The Doppler–Rabi resonance, i.e., maximum Rabi oscillations at large values of the atom–field detuning, becomes possible if the detuning is equal to the Doppler shift. A simple formula for the population inversion is derived in the Raman–Nath approximation.     

Rabi-type oscillations in a classical Josephson junction

We study analytically and numerically the phase-modulation properties of a classical Josephson tunnel junction biased in the zero-voltage state and phase locked to an external ac field. We show that the phase-locked state is being modulated in the transients, or in response to perturbations, and the modulation frequency is calculated as a function of relevant system parameters, such as microwave field amplitude. Our analysis demonstrates that the modulation of a phase-locked state in an entirely classical Josephson junction produces oscillations analogous to quantum mechanical Rabi oscillations, expected to be observed under the same conditions.     

Control and coherence of the optical transition of single nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond

We demonstrate coherent control of the optical transition of single nitrogen-vacancy defect centers in diamond. On applying short resonant laser pulses, we observe optical Rabi oscillations with a half period as short as 1 ns, an order of magnitude shorter than the spontaneous emission time. By studying the decay of Rabi oscillations, we find that the decoherence is dominated by laser-induced spectral jumps. By using a low-power probe pulse as a detuning sensor and applying postselection, we demonstrate that spectral diffusion can be overcome in this system to generate coherent photons.     

Temperature dependence of coherent oscillations in Josephson phase qubits

We experimentally investigate the temperature dependence of Rabi oscillations and Ramsey fringes in superconducting phase qubits. In a wide range of temperatures, we find that both the decay time and the amplitude of these coherent oscillations remain nearly unaffected by thermal fluctuations. In the two-level limit, coherent qubit response rapidly vanishes as soon as the energy of thermal fluctuations k(B)T becomes larger than the energy level spacing variant Planck's over h omega of the qubit. In contrast, a sample of much shorter coherence times displayed semiclassical oscillations very similar to Rabi oscillation, but showing a qualitatively different temperature dependence. Our observations shed new light on the origin of decoherence in superconducting qubits. The experimental data suggest that, without degrading already achieved coherence times, phase qubits can be operated at temperatures much higher than those reported till now.     

Band structure effects on the nonlinear optical response of bilayer graphene

Recently, Rabi-like oscillations that occur far from resonance were predicted in monolayer graphene. In bilayer graphene, when the trigonal warping effect is taken into account, this new Rabi frequency shows a zero non-trivial minimum as a function of the strength of the applied electric field in addition to the trivial minimum at zero field. The zero non-trivial minimum occurs where the ‘leg pocket’ of the Fermi surface develops, described in the pioneering work of McCann et al. [Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 148, 91 (2007)]. Thereafter, the anomalous Rabi frequency varies linearly with the square of the intensity of the applied field consistent with a bilayer system without trigonal warping. It is seen that this anomalous Rabi frequency is affected much more by trigonal warping than the conventional Rabi frequency. The induced current is also significantly affected by the trigonal warping. A fully numerical solution of the optical Bloch equations completely corroborates the analytical findings and provides a basis for the approximation schemes employed.     

Tunneling spectroscopy of two-level systems inside a Josephson junction

We consider a two-level system (TLS) with energy level separation plankvOmega0 inside a Josephson junction. The junction is shunted by a resistor R and is voltage V biased. If the TLS modulates the Josephson energy and/or is optically active, it is Rabi driven by the Josephson oscillations in the running phase regime near the resonance 2eV=plankvOmega0. The Rabi oscillations, in turn, translate into oscillations of current and voltage that can be detected in noise measurements. This effect provides an option to fully characterize the TLS inside Josephson junction and to find the TLS's contribution to the decoherence when the junction is used as a qubit.     

Microscope system with on axis programmable Fourier transform filtering

We propose an on-axis microscope optical system to implement programmable optical Fourier transform image processing operations, taking advantage of phase and polarization modulation of a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) display. We use a Hamamatsu spatial light modulator (SLM), free of flickering, which therefore can be tuned to fully eliminate the zero order component of the encoded diffractive filter. This allows the realization of filtering operation on axis (as opposed to other systems in the literature that require operating off axis), therefore making use of the full space bandwidth provided by the SLM. The system is first demonstrated by implementing different optical processing operations based on phase-only blazed gratings such as phase contrast, band-pass filtering, or additive and substractive imaging. Then, a simple Differential interference contrast (DIC) imaging is obtained changing to a polarization modulation scheme, achieved simply by selecting a different incident state of polarization on the incident beam.     

Population inversion in a single InGaAs quantum dot using the method of adiabatic rapid passage

Preparation of a specific quantum state is a required step for a variety of proposed quantum applications. We report an experimental demonstration of optical quantum state inversion in a single semiconductor quantum dot using adiabatic rapid passage. This method is insensitive to variation in the optical coupling in contrast with earlier work based on Rabi oscillations. We show that when the pulse power exceeds a threshold for inversion, the final state is independent of power. This provides a new tool for preparing quantum states in semiconductor dots and has a wide range of potential uses.     

Phase-locked light sources with low-phase noise for manipulating terahertz-separated metastable states in 40Ca+

We report the development of phase-locked light sources for manipulating terahertz-separated metastable states in ⁴⁰Ca⁺. Two Ti:sapphire lasers with frequencies separated by 1.82 THz are phase-locked using an optical comb generator. The obtained phase noise is 49.8 mrad when the phase-locked loop is closed. Using the developed light sources, we excite Rabi oscillations between the terahertz-separated 3²D_3/2 and 3²D_5/2 states in ⁴⁰Ca⁺. We discuss the phase noises of the light sources and their effect on excitation of Rabi oscillations.     

Dynamic control of retrieval contrast in a Λ-type atomic system

We propose an efficient scheme for optimizing the optical memory of a sequence of signal light pulses in a system of ultracold atoms in Λ configuration. The memory procedure consists of write-in, storage, and retrieval phases. By applying a weak microwave field in the storage stage, additional phase-dependent terms are included, and the contrast of the output signal pulses can be dynamically controlled (enhanced or suppressed) through manipulating the relative phase φ between optical and microwave fields. Our numerical analysis shows that the contrast is enhanced to the most extent when φ=1.5π. In addition, the contrast is in proportion to the Rabi frequency of the microwave field with a certain relative phase.     

The Rabi frequency in optical spectra

The use of tunable lasers in atomic spectroscopy has provided new opportunities to study the effects of intense coherent resonant radiation on the dynamics of atoms. Under such conditions Rabi oscillations of state probability amplitudes lead to a plethora of new effects in optical spectra such as dynamic Stark splitting of resonances, nutational oscillations in fluorescence and periodic photon bunching and antibunching of the emitted light. We review the extensive developments of effects concerned with the “dressing” of atomic states by intense resonant fields.     

Efficient generation and control of robust stationary light signals in a double-Λ system of cold atoms

We study the dynamic processes of reversible light storage in a double-Λ system of cold atoms by modulating two counter-propagating control fields in three successive stages. We find that stationary light pulses (SLPs) can be generated when we switch on both control fields to retrieve the stored light signal from a wave-packet of atomic spin coherence. But the two control fields should have equal Rabi frequencies for a symmetric structure of atomic levels while unequal Rabi frequencies for an asymmetric structure of atomic levels. That is, the generation of SLPs requires a special ratio between Rabi frequencies of the two control fields, which is determined by the spontaneous decay rates of relevant atomic transitions. We also show that phase modulation and profile reversal of the released light signal can be implemented by suitably manipulating the two control fields. The double-Λ system of cold atoms has the advantage of high efficiency and high fidelity, when compared to the Λ system of cold atoms, because SLPs generated therein suffer very slow decay and diffusion.     

Parametric excitation of oscillatory states and symmetry in phase space

We study the excitation of nonlinear dissipative oscillator under influence of a monochromatic force at the level of a few quanta. With this purpose we consider an optical parametric oscillator combined with phase-modulation in which the oscillatory mode is excited through down-conversion process under a monochromatic laser field. The temporal Rabi oscillations of Fock states as well as the properties of oscillatory mode in phase space are studied with use of the Wigner functions.     

Enhancing light slow-down in semiconductor optical amplifiers by optical filtering

We show that the degree of light-speed control in a semiconductor optical amplifier can be significantly extended by the introduction of optical filtering. We achieve a phase shift of approximately 150 degrees at 19 GHz modulation frequency, corresponding to a several-fold increase of the absolute phase shift as well as the achievable bandwidth. We show good quantitative agreement with numerical simulations, including the effects of population oscillations and four-wave mixing, and provide a simple physical explanation based on an analytical perturbation approach.     

Diverging rabi oscillations in subwavelength photonic lattices

We show that Rabi oscillations between Bloch modes of an optical waveguide array with subwavelength periodicity diverge, both in frequency and in field amplitude, when the optical wavelength approaches a mathematical exceptional point at which the Bloch mode becomes self-orthogonal.     

Synchronization of chaotic semiconductor lasers by optical injection with random phase modulation

It is shown that identical synchronization of two chaotic semiconductor lasers can be achieved by injection of a common optical signal with randomly varying phase. An optical signal with randomly modulated phase is injected into two semiconductor lasers which have chaotic oscillations due to optical feedback. Strong correlation between complex intensity oscillations of the two lasers is observed even though the intensity of the common injection signal is constant. Characteristic properties of this type of synchronization are shown, in particular, the dependence of the synchronization threshold on the injection strength and the rate of phase modulation, and the dependence of the intensity correlation on the difference in phase of optical feedback.     

Dynamic control of the entanglement in the presence of the time-varying field

The interactions between a two-level atom and a field with a time-varying frequency have been investigated. The two typical cases, the frequency of the field varying with time in the forms of sine and rectangle, have been considered. The dynamic behavior of the atom-field entanglement is investigated numerically as function of time. A number of novel phenomena are discovered and discussed. The sine modulation of the field frequency can help to realize and stabilize the degree of the atom-field entanglement at high level. The influence of the rectangular frequency modulated field on the atom-field entanglement indicates that the entanglement is more sensitive to the detuning than the correlation between different Rabi oscillations. Not only the sine field frequency modulation but also the rectangular field frequency modulation is favorable to improve, enhance and stabilize the degree of the atom-field entanglement.     

Intermittency and dynamical chaos in reversible spontaneous emission

It is shown that a type of reversible spontaneous emission, the chaotic vacuum Rabi oscillations, may occur in the interaction of two-level atoms strongly coupled with a single cavity mode under a modulation of the atom-field coupling. Such a modulation arises naturally if the atoms move through a cavity in maserlike experiments. The existence of homoclinic chaos in reversible spontaneous emission is proven analytically. Evidence of intermittency associated with the spatial modulation of the vacuum Rabi frequency is shown numerically for the values of parameters that are achievable in present-day experiments with Rydberg atoms moving through a high-Q microwave cavity in the strong-coupling regime.