Effects of Lorentz local field correction on propagation properties of few-cycle pulse in dense Λ-type atomic medium

By solving numerically the full Maxwell-Bloch equations without the slowly varying envelope approximation and the rotating-wave approximation, we investigate the effects of Lorentz local field correction (LFC) on the propagation properties of few-cycle laser pulse in a dense Λ-type three-level atomic medium. We find that: when the area of the input pulse is larger, split of pulse occurs and the number of the sub-pulses with LFC is larger than that without LFC; at the same distance, the time interval between the first sub-pulse and the second sub-pulse in the case without LFC is longer than that with LFC, the time of pulse appearing in the case without LFC is later than that in the case with LFC, and the two phenomena are more obvious with propagation distance increasing; time evolution rules of the populations of levels |1>, |2> and |3> in the two cases with and without LFC are much different. When the area of the input pulse is smaller, effects of LFC on time evolutions of the pulse and populations are remarkably smaller than those in the case of larger area pulse.     

周期量级激光脉冲在不同密度的原子介质中传播行为的比较

利用不含慢变包络近似和旋波近似的全波Maxwell-Bloch方程组的数值解,研究了周期量级超短激光脉冲在Ladder型三能级原子介质中的传播行为并与在相应的稀疏介质中的情况进行了比较.我们发现,在传播过程中,超短脉冲在稠密介质中的时间演化规律与在稀疏介质中明显不同,而且这种差别将随初始脉冲面积的增大而加大.当初始脉冲面积较小时,在传播过程中,脉冲形状在稀疏介质中只有小的改变而在稠密介质中却有显著的变化.当初始脉冲面积足够大时,在稠密介质中在不同的传播距离处脉冲分裂为不同数量和形状的亚脉冲|在稀疏介质中脉冲形状在传播过程中仍然只有小的改变。产生以上差别的原因在于稠密原子介质中近偶极-偶极(NDD)相互作用导致的局域场修正(LFC) 及比稀疏原子介质更强的极化电场的影响.其中,更强的极化电场的影响起着主要的作用,但局域场修正的作用也不能忽略,而极化电场的增强是由于原子密度的增加.     

周期量级激光脉冲在不同密度的原子介质中传播行为的比较(英文)

利用不含慢变包络近似和旋波近似的全波Maxwell-Bloch方程组的数值解,研究了周期量级超短激光脉冲在Ladder型三能级原子介质中的传播行为并与在相应的稀疏介质中的情况进行了比较.我们发现,在传播过程中,超短脉冲在稠密介质中的时间演化规律与在稀疏介质中明显不同,而且这种差别将随初始脉冲面积的增大而加大.当初始脉冲面积较小时,在传播过程中,脉冲形状在稀疏介质中只有小的改变而在稠密介质中却有显著的变化.当初始脉冲面积足够大时,在稠密介质中在不同的传播距离处脉冲分裂为不同数量和形状的亚脉冲;在稀疏介质中脉冲形状在传播过程中仍然只有小的改变。产生以上差别的原因在于稠密原子介质中近偶极-偶极(NDD)相互作用导致的局域场修正(LFC)及比稀疏原子介质更强的极化电场的影响.其中,更强的极化电场的影响起着主要的作用,但局域场修正的作用也不能忽略,而极化电场的增强是由于原子密度的增加.     

级联三能级模型下超短脉冲激光与分子相互作用的动力学研究

通过求解麦克斯韦-布洛赫方程，研究了超短脉冲激光和一维对称π共轭分子材料(4,4′-二甲氨基二苯乙烯分子)的相互作用.该分子材料具有较强的非线性光学性质，其分子的电子结构和电偶极矩是在密度泛函理论水平上利用从头计算方法得到的.研究结果表明，慢变幅近似和旋波近似不能很好地描述超短脉冲在该分子介质中的传播.在单光子共振情况下，保持入射脉冲的脉冲宽度不变，当小面积脉冲在该分子介质中传播时，二能级模型可以较好地描述脉冲激光与该分子体系的相互作用过程.但对于大面积脉冲激光，由于较明显地产生了分子的二次激发，此时分子 关键词： 超短脉冲激光 4′-二甲氨基二苯乙烯分子 三能级模型 麦克斯韦-布洛赫方程     

传播效应对宽带极紫外连续谱的影响

宽带极紫外连续谱是获得阿秒脉冲的重要途径,在此过程中传播效应是影响宽带极紫外连续谱产生的重要因素,本文针对传播效应对宽带极紫外连续谱的影响,采用慢变波近似的一阶传播方程,研究了传播过程对双色场周期量级激光脉冲产生宽带连续谱及其对应的单个阿秒脉冲的影响.通过分析不同聚焦位置和介质长度的传播过程,发现介质位于焦点之后有利于产生连续谱,同时随着介质长度的变长,虽然单个阿秒脉冲峰值强度有所提高,但是产生的阿秒脉冲宽度也会增加.进一步的分析表明,在特定的双色场延迟优化下,传播效应不仅使得阿秒脉冲强度增强,还可以获得与单原子模型下具有同样脉宽的单个阿秒脉冲,而不会因为传播效应导致阿秒脉冲宽度变宽.     

Diffraction-free propagation of a focused delta-pulsed beam

The propagation of short broadband pulses in a homogeneous medium is analyzed on the basis of the wave equation and in the parabolic approximation of that equation. It is shown that the diffraction spreading of a focused optical pulsed beam does not occur in the limiting case of a δ pulse.     

Polarization dynamics of unidirectional optical pulse evolution in a laser amplifier

Polarization dynamics of optical pulses in an isotropic two-level medium is analyzed by solving an integrable system of evolution equations without using the slowly varying envelope approximation. The analysis is focused on the regime of unidirectional pulse generation in an initially inverted medium. Qualitative difference in polarization dynamics is revealed between few-cycle and quasi-monochromatic pulse propagation     

Streak formation as side effect of optical breakdown during processing the bulk of transparent Kerr media with ultra-short laser pulses

Femtosecond lasers have been successfully used to perform refractive surgery, by cutting within the bulk of the corneal tissue. As a side effect to the laser cutting there, a streak-like discoloration is observed in histological sections above and below the cutting plane, incident with the direction of laser propagation. These streak-shaped alterations of tissue are believed to originate from low free-electron densities not sufficient to cause optical breakdown. To understand the generation of the streaks, the nonlinear interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with water, as an approximation to corneal tissue, is simulated numerically using a model that simultaneously describes both the nonlinear pulse propagation and the generation of free electrons. The model is used to calculate spatial free electron density distributions generated by ultra-short pulses. Areas of high free-electron density correspond to optical breakdown, whereas areas of low density can be related to streaks. The numerical code can be adapted to practically any transparent dielectric Kerr medium, whose nonlinear optical parameters are known. PACS 72.20.Jv; 42.65.Jx; 42.65.Sf; 42.62.Be     

Nonlinear pulse propagation: a time-transformation approach

We present a time-transformation approach for studying the propagation of optical pulses inside a nonlinear medium. Unlike the conventional way of solving for the slowly varying amplitude of an optical pulse, our new approach maps directly the input electric field to the output one, without making the slowly varying envelope approximation. Conceptually, the time-transformation approach shows that the effect of propagation through a nonlinear medium is to change the relative spacing and duration of various temporal slices of the pulse. These temporal changes manifest as self-phase modulation in the spectral domain and self-steepening in the temporal domain. Our approach agrees with the generalized nonlinear Schr?dinger equation for 100 fs pulses and the finite-difference time-domain solution of Maxwell's equations for two-cycle pulses, while producing results 20 and 50 times faster, respectively.     

On certain regularities of the response of a medium upon generation of the triple frequency of a few-period laser pulse in the case of its passage through an optically thin nonlinear layer

The response of a medium at the triple frequency under the action of few-period laser pulses is considered within the framework of the thin-optical-layer approximation for the case where the triple frequency is close to the natural frequency of the linear oscillator. It is shown that a bistable dependence of the polarization amplitudes on the external action amplitude simultaneously appears at both the natural frequency and the frequency of the external action. This allows one, in particular, to reveal the presence of bistability of the regime of third harmonic generation in a physical experiment by using the transmitted radiation of the acting pulse. A decrease in the duration of the pulse incident on the medium leads to an increase in the hysteresis loops. The effect of the absolute phase of a short pulse on the spectral composition of the response of the medium is studied. For pulses of medium duration, in addition to the resonant response of the medium, the presence of the dynamic response of the medium at the triple frequency was revealed, despite a detuning of the latter from the resonance. The presence of this frequency in the spectrum of the response of the medium results in the dependence of the resonant response of the medium on the absolute phase even for a sufficiently long pulse containing tens oscillations of the electric field strength under the pulse envelope. To obtain the dynamics of the spectral lines from the results of computer simulation, the Fourier-Gabor method is used, the applicability of which is demonstrated by the comparison of the results obtained on its basis with the corresponding analytical dependences.     

On the propagation of hypersonic solitons in a strained paramagnetic crystal

Nonlinear dynamics of a subnanosecond transverse elastic pulse in a low-temperature paramagnetic crystal placed into a magnetic field and statically strained in the same direction is investigated. Paramagnetic impurities implanted into the crystal have an effective spin of 3/2, and the pulse propagates at right angles to the magnetic field. In the general case, the structure of the pulse is such that the approximation of slowly varying envelopes, which is standard for quasi-monochromatic signals, is inapplicable. Under certain conditions, the pulse propagation in the 1D case is described by the Konno-Kameyama-Sanuki integrable wave equation for strain, which is transformed into the Hirota equation for the envelope of the given strain in the quasi-monochromatic limit. The effect of transverse perturbations on extremely short and quasi-monochromatic solitons is studied in detail. The conditions and features of self-focusing and defocusing of acoustic solitons in the form of extremely short pulses and envelope solitons are revealed. The propagation of an extremely short “half-wave” hypersonic pulse in the “acoustic bullet” regime in the medium with a quasiequilibrium population of quantum sublevels of effective spins is predicted.     

Anisotropy of inhomogeneous resonant media during transient interaction with optical pulses

This study predicts the manifestation of anisotropic properties in linearly isotropic inhomogeneous resonant media during the propagation of optical pulses through them with pulse durations comparable to the phase memory of the medium. For examples, the energy of an obliquely incident pulse propagating through a layered inhomogeneous medium, varies with inversion of the propagation direction. This effect results from phase modulation of the pulse duse to variation in refraction in a region of transient coherent processes in the medium. This study analyzes the most favorable conditions for observing anisotropic effects.V. D. Kuznetsov Siberian Physical — Technical Institute, Tomsk State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 96–99, August, 1994.     

Dissipative soliton-like plasmon-polariton pulses in extended medium

The propagation of the coupled state of the electron density perturbation in an extended metallic medium and the excitation of a two-level resonant medium are analyzed. The one- and two-photon transitions in the resonant medium are considered. The electron density perturbation is described using the hydrodynamic approximation. The formation of plasmon-polariton pulses is analyzed in the case when losses in the extended medium are compensated for by the pumping of the two-level dielectric medium. Numerical analysis carried out for the two models revealed that the losses in a soliton-like pulse in a thin metallic medium can be compensated for due to the energy transfer from the amplifying medium to electron density waves. It is shown that the dispersion of a medium containing a two-level component may considerably affect the characteristics of the pulses. The possibility of effectively controlling the evolution of soliton-like pulses by varying an external electromagnetic field and the characteristics of the matrix is demonstrated.     

Intensification and location of relativistic laser pulses against pointing fluctuations with micro-tube plasma lenses

We analyze, via an off-axis incident model and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, the influence of beam pointing fluctuations (BPFs) on the propagation properties of relativistic laser pulses in micro-tubes. It is observed that the in-tube laser intensity can be further amplified in the BPFs-induced off-axis incident case. But the intensification factor exhibits strong polarization-dependence. When the laser pulse is linearly polarized in the off-axis incident plane (p-polarization), more electrons may be dragged out from about a half of the tube inner surface in each across section than in the on-axis incident case, enhancing the effects of relativistic nonlinearity and channel focusing. The area for generating more electrons is reduced by one half in the s-polarization case, resulting in less efficient light intensification. The BPFs-induced off-axis incident also leads to pulse shortening. Moreover, light confinement in the tube core is evident and the laser pulse tends to be coaxial with the tube.     

Electromagnetically induced transparency; writing, storing, and reading short optical pulses

The spatiotemporal propagation dynamics of a weak probe pulse in an optically dense medium of three-level atoms is studied in the adiabatic approximation under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency. The atomic coherence induced at the dipole-forbidden transitions is found to be spatially localized. This effect is used for the analysis of the reversible writing (reading) of short optical pulses. The method of pulse time reversal is suggested.     

Nonlinear acoustic transparency phenomena in strained paramagnetic crystals

Nonlinear dynamics of longitudinal acoustic pulses propagating in a strained paramagnetic cubic crystal at low temperature is analyzed. The direction of constant uniform strain is parallel to one of the fourth-order symmetry axes. Effective-spin 1 ions are considered as paramagnetic impurities with the strongest spin-lattice interaction. In this medium, normally degenerate magnetic sublevels are dynamically shifted by the quadrupole Stark effect, and the frequencies of the transitions induced by an acoustic pulse change accordingly. The self-consistent system of equations derived in this study without using the slowly varying envelope approximation describes pulse propagation at an arbitrary angle to the direction of the static strain. Exponentially and rationally decaying monopolar and breather-like solutions to the system are obtained. An analysis of the solutions reveals an asymmetry of the pulse polarity depending on the type of strain (extension or compression) and the pulse propagation direction. In particular, it is shown that acoustic transparency associated with monopolar strain pulses exhibits threshold behavior. The sign of the time area (zeroth harmonic) of breather-like strain pulses is such that the transition frequency averaged over an oscillation period dynamically decreases. This behavior determines the efficiency of generation of high-order harmonics of acoustic pulses in strained paramagnetic crystals.     

Analysis of femtosecond optical pulse propagation in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals using finite-difference time-domain method

In this paper, we have used the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to analyze the optical pulse propagation in a nonlinear, one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC). Hyperbolic secant pulses with various carrier wavelengths are utilized in this study. In a nonlinear regime, a 1DPC introduces a photonic band-gap whose central wavelength and width depend on the input pulse intensity. In the present work, three different cases are considered. These correspond to the carrier wavelengths of the incident pulses being out of, near to, and partially in the band-gap. For each case, the effect of nonlinearity on pulse propagation is investigated. Also, we have analyzed the two-frequency regime, in which each of the two pulses has a different carrier frequency (wavelength). This kind of study can be done directly with FDTD without any further computational burden but it is somewhat complicated using nonlinear coupled-mode equations (NLCME) and nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE), which require separate treatments for each carrier wavelength.     

Interaction of ultrashort elliptically polarized laser pulses with nonlinear helical photonic metamaterial

The effect of nonlinear properties of a material with a periodic structural cell (three-dimensional spiral) on the specificity of transmission and reflection of elliptically polarized laser pulses normally incident on the metamaterial is studied using the finite-difference time-domain method. An analysis of the hodograph of electric-field strength vector showed that an increase in the peak intensity of a linearly polarized laser pulse incident on a sample leads to an increase in the orthogonal component of the electric-field strength vector in the pulse transmitted through the medium. When pulses containing few electric-field periods are incident on a metamaterial, the latter demonstrates radically different optical properties for right- and left-handed circularly polarized light passing through the medium. It was shown that an increase in the intensity of a right-handed (left-handed) circularly polarized ultrashort pulse, incident on a sample composed of a rather large number of right-handed (left-handed) spirals made of nonlinearmaterial, widens the frequency range within which the incident light is almost entirely reflected from the medium.     

Optical fibre-grating pulse compression

Numerical simulation is used to consider non-linear pulse propagation in fibres and subsequent pulse compression in a dispersive delay line. It is shown that for small initial pulse powers the conventional non-linear Schrödinger equation (NSE) is quite accurate to describe the process of pulse propagation in fibres. In this case initially symmetrical pulses undergo squaring and spectral broadening in fibres, and frequency chirp is linearized over most of the pulse, while shapes of the pulse, spectrum and frequency chirp remain symmetrical at the output of the fibre. There is a certain optimum fibre lengthZ _opt which is determined by the initial pulse parameters and fibre characteristics for pulse compression in the dispersive delay line. When the fibre lengthZ>Z _opt the optical wave breaking effect distorts the linearity of the frequency chirp and thus deteriorates the quality of the compressed pulse. The region of NSE approximation accuracy is determined. It is demonstrated that at increase of the initial pulse power (initial pulse width makes no difference) the NSE approximation becomes inaccurate. So the pulse dynamics in the fibre were described by the modified NSE derived in the higher-order approximation of the method of slowly varying amplitudes from Maxwell's equations. In this case the shock wave appears at the trailing edge of the pulse, which accelerates the wave breaking process. This results in a decrease of the optimum fibre length and deterioration of compressed pulse parameters, compared with the NSE case. Spectral windowing of the extreme Stokes components of the pulse spectrum permits significant improvement in the quality of the compressed pulse. The main features of the compression of pulses with asymmetrical initial shape are also considered.     

Self-focusing and defocusing of self-similar π pulses in an amplifying two-level medium

The effect of transverse perturbations on the propagation of electromagnetic π pulses in an amplifying two-level medium is studied. The cases of quasi-monochromatic and extremely short pulses are considered. The equations describing the behavior of the transverse size of the pulse during its propagation in the medium are derived. It is shown that, if the ratios of the diffraction length to the length of dispersion spreading are smaller than certain critical values, self-focusing regimes are realized for both types of pulses. Otherwise, at a finite distance, blowup of defocusing occurs, after which the amplified pulse propagates as if it is a one-dimensional pulse, with the velocity equal to the velocity of light in vacuum. Similarities and distinctions in the dynamics of propagation of extremely short and quasi-monochromatic pulses are indicated.