Study of modulation instability in a temporally incoherent photorefractive ring resonator below the threshold with incoherent light

Modulation instability (MI) and evolution of pattern formation inside a passive non-linear photorefractive ring resonator having cavity-length longer than the coherence length of the light circulating in the resonating cavity has been theoretically analyzed. Dynamics of the system below the threshold conditions have also been analyzed, numerically using linear perturbation theory for the Kerr-type non-linearity. The process of modulation instability in a temporally incoherent cavity below the cavity threshold and the influence of various parameters such as the cavity-length, intensity feedback of the perturbed wave field, amplitude of the incoming beam and spatial frequency on the gain factor and the spatial spectral density have also been studied. For the perturbed wave field, it has been found that the growth rate of MI increases with increase in the intensity feedback as well as the spatial frequency. It has also been found that increasing the intensity feedback of the perturbed wave field, for a given value of the spatial frequency, the spatial spectral density of the perturbation at the output of the non-linear medium increases with the shifting peak positions to the higher spatial frequency side.     

Scattering of scalar light wave from a Gaussianben Schell model medium

The scattering of scalar light wave from a random medium with a correlation function of Gaussian–Schell model distribution is studied. It is shown that the properties of the scattered field, i.e., the spectral density and the spectral degree of coherence of the scattered field, are closely related to the properties of the scattering medium, including the scaled effective radius and the scaled correlation length of the correlation function.     

Effects of Frequency Averaging on Estimates of Plasma Wave Coherence Spectra

The effects of frequency averaging (i. e., data smoothing) on digitally computed plasma-wave coherence-spectra are investigated. Such averaging, or smoothing, of the data is necessary to reduce the variance of the spectral estimators to acceptable levels. However, too much averaging results in a loss of frequency resolution and in an "artificial" reduction of the degree of coherence characterizing each wave in the fluctuation spectrum. This latter problem is the subject of this paper and is concluded that in order to avoid such difficulties, it is necessary: (1) that the averaging bandwidth be small compared to the spectral bandwidth of the wave packet, and (2) that the distance between the two spatial monitoring points be small compared to the coherence length of the wave packet.     

Optical transfer functions of Kerr nonlinear cavities and interferometers

We present the optical transfer functions for third-order nonlinear cavities that involve an optical carrier frequency and its modulation sideband fields. Our approach is based on linearized transformations and provides a convenient tool to calculate squeezed light sources as well as complex interferometer topologies, containing subsystems that involve intensity dependent phase shifts, i.e., optical Kerr media. As the result we present the noise spectral density of a Michelson interferometer with Kerr nonlinear arm cavities and resonant sideband extraction and find that quantum noise can be squeezed by arbitrary amounts even outside the cavity linewidth. Such a system might apply for future gravitational wave detectors or simply for a continuous wave source of squeezed states.     

The characteristics analysis of a new-style four-mirror axisymmetric-fold-combination cavity adapting to cylindrical discharge region

An axisymmetric-fold-combination (ASFC) cavity composed of two planar mirrors and spherical mirrors was designed. It is a stable-unstable resonator cavity. The light field of radial direction is Gaussian distribution. And in angular orientation, the distribution keeps invariant. It could generate annular CO₂ laser beam with excellent spatial coherence. And the spatial coherence is commendably realized with its stable-unstable cavity structure. The output light intensity distribution of this special model was discussed and simulated. With exterior lenses group, the output beams can be adjusted and controlled better to meet the manufactural requirements. Some references were provided for further research of the cavity with cylindrical discharge region.     

Effect of the spectral half-width of the driving field on the bistability

The bistability behavior of a nonlinear absorbing medium inside a Fabry–Perot resonator driven by an external quasi-monochromatic field is studied. The driving field is considered to be of a Gaussian and Lorentzian spectral line profile. The effect of the spectral half-width on the bistability is discussed. The mathematical treatment is carried out through an interferometric point of view. The dependence of the driving intensity required to initiate bistability on the standing wave established inside the resonator is represented.     

A model for spatial coherence from directive ambient noise in attenuating, dispersive media

As a complement to experimental efforts in seismics and acoustics to infer geo-acoustic properties of the propagation environment from the second order statistics of ambient noise measurements, a set of exact, explicit, closed form expressions for the cross-spectral density and spatial coherence of diffuse random wave fields is presented. Taken together, the expressions are well suited for modeling broadband, diffuse wave coherence in realistic scenarios involving directive, ambient noise from local (i.e., volume) and distant (i.e., plane wave) source features in an open, dispersive, attenuating medium.     

Average intensity and spectral shifts of a partially coherent standard or elegant Laguerre-Gaussian beam beyond paraxial approximation

With the help of the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral, an analytical formula for the spectral density of a nonparaxial polychromatic partially coherent (NPPC) standard or elegant Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam propagating through free space is derived. The evolution properties of the intensity distribution of a NPPC standard or elegant LG beam are studied numerically. It is found that the behavior of the intensity distribution of the NPPC standard or elegant LG beam is determined by the initial beam parameters (i.e., beam waist size, spatial coherence width and beam orders). Furthermore, we also study the influence of the initial beam parameters on the spectral change of a NPPC standard or elegant LG beam upon propagation in free space. It is shown that the on-axis spectral shift of a NPPC standard LG beam is almost the same with that of a NPPC elegant LG beam when the initial beam parameters of two type beams are identical. However, the difference between the off-axis spectral shift between a NPPC standard LG beam and a NPPC elegant LG beam is enhanced with the decrease of beam waist size or with the increase of spatial coherence width and beam mode orders.     

Significance and measurability of the phase of a spatially coherent optical field

In usual measurements of the phase of an optical field it is generally assumed that the field is monochromatic. In reality this assumption is never justified. The distinction between monochromaticity and complete spatial coherence is first discussed, and it is then shown that with every spatially coherent field (e.g., a laser mode) one can associate a monochromatic wave that, in a well-defined sense, represents the average behavior of the field. Its phase can be measured by standard interferometric techniques and also by techniques developed in recent years for the measurement of the spectral degree of coherence of fields of arbitrary states of coherence.     

Emergence of X-shaped spatiotemporal coherence in optical waves

Considering the problem of parametric nonlinear interaction, we report the experimental observation of electromagnetic waves characterized by an X-shaped spatiotemporal coherence; i.e., coherence is neither spatial nor temporal, but skewed along specific spatiotemporal trajectories. The application of the usual, purely spatial or temporal, measures of coherence would erroneously lead to the conclusion that the field is fully incoherent. Such hidden coherence has been identified owing to an innovative diagnostic technique based on simultaneous analysis of both the spatial and temporal spectra.     

腔场初始态对两量子比特空间退相干的影响

研究了两个二能级原子与一个单模腔场的相互作用中,腔场的不同初始态对原子间相对位置退相干的影响。从描述原子间相对位置状态的约化密度矩阵出发,假设原子间相对位置为两个高斯波包的叠加态,讨论了当腔场初始态分别为热态、Fock态和压缩态情况下,原子与光场的相互作用对两原子间相对位置相干性的影响。发现腔场的初始态不同,原子间相对位置的退相干情况有所不同。当腔场初始态为热态或Fock态时,原子间相对位置的相干性会周期性的衰减和回复,而当腔场初始态为压缩态时,原子间相对位置会出现部分退相干,且退相干程度与原子间相对位置的大小成余弦变化关系。     

Imaging of directional distributed noise sources

This study relates to the acoustic imaging of noise sources that are distributed and strongly directional, such as in turbulent jets. The goal is to generate high-resolution noise source maps with self-consistency, i.e., their integration over the extent of the noise source region gives the far-field pressure auto-spectrum for a particular emission direction. Self-consistency is possible by including a directivity factor in the formulation of the source cross-spectral density. The resulting source distribution is based on the complex coherence, rather than the cross-spectrum, of the measured acoustic field. For jet noise, whose spectral nature changes with emission angle, it is necessary to conduct the measurements with a narrow-aperture array. Three coherence-based imaging methods were applied to a Mach 0.9 turbulent jet: delay-and-sum beamforming; deconvolution of the beamformer output; and direct spectral estimation that relies on minimizing the difference between the measured and modeled coherences of the acoustic field. The delay-and-sum beamforming generates noise source maps with strong spatial distortions and sidelobes. Deconvolution leads to a five-fold improvement in spatial resolution and significantly reduces the intensity of the sidelobes. The direct spectral estimation produces maps very similar to those obtained by deconvolution. The coherence-based noise source maps, obtained by deconvolution or direct spectral estimation, are similar at small and large observation angles relative to the jet axis.     

Formation of spatial solitons and spatial shock waves in photorefractive crystals

An analytical model, which describes the drift and diffusion mechanisms for the formation of the nonlinear response (local and nonlocal nonlinearities) of photorefractive crystals on the microscopic level, is constructed. New types of stable self-consistent distributions of the light field intensity, i.e., spatial solitons, are found. The trajectories of their motion (self-bending) are calculated, and the possibility of observing a new nonlinear-optical effect in photorefractive crystals, viz., the formation of spatial shock waves, is demonstrated. The modulation instability appearing when plane waves propagate in photorefractive crystals is analyzed, and the characteristic spatial scales of the light field distribution formed as a result of self-interaction (fanning) are determined. The results of the analysis are confirmed by computer simulation data. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 705–716 (February 1997)     

Effects of a modified spectral model on the spatial coherence of a laser beam

The influence of a modified (bump) spectrum of refractive index fluctuations on the spatial coherence of an optical wave is studied here and compared with that based on a von Karman spectrum. Analytical expressions are derived for the mutual coherence function (MCF) and wave structure function (WSF) of a lowest-order Gaussian beam wave from which the beam spot size and degree of coherence are deduced. The qualitative behaviour of beam spreading and coherence length is basically the same for both spectral models. Also, when the radius of the Fresnel zone and initial beam radius are of comparable size, the presence of a spectral bump appears to have minimal effect on spatial coherence for all beams. However, the choice of spectral model is important for certain ranges of parameters. In particular, the implied spatial coherence length for a collimated beam based on the modified spectrum is significantly smaller than that based on the von Karman spectrum whenever the Fresnel zone is either much larger or much smaller than the initial beam radius, whereas for a focused beam the predicted coherence length based on the modified spectrum is slightly larger when the Fresnel zone size is much smaller than the initial beam radius.     

Maximum visibility under unitary transformations in two-pinhole interference for electromagnetic fields

In terms of the spectral density tensors associated with the electric field vector, the maximum visibility one can obtain in a two-point interference arrangement by using local (i.e., position-dependent) unitary transformations applied at such points is determined. It is also shown that the maximum visibility can be expressed in terms of a number of well-known parameters describing the coherence and polarization features of the field.     

First principle theory for cavity solitons in semiconductor microresonators

Cavity solitons are similar to spatial solitons, appearing as localized bright dots in the transverse intensity profile of the electromagnetic field, but they arise in dissipative systems. In this paper we consider a broad-area vertical-cavity semiconductor microresonator, driven by an external coherent field, at room temperature. The active material is constituted by a Multiple Quantum Well GaAs/AlGaAs structure (MQW). We present a set of nonlinear dynamical equations for the electric field and the carrier density valid for both a passive and an active (i.e. with population inversion) configuration. The complex nonlinear susceptibility is derived on the basis of a full many-body theory, with the Coulomb enhancement treated in the Padé approximation. The linear stability analysis of the homogeneous steady states is performed with a generalised approach, and numerical simulations demonstrating the existence of spatial patterns and cavity solitons in experimentally achievable parameter regions are given for the two configurations. Received 18 January 2001     

Spatial solitons in a pumped semiconductor resonator

Bright and dark spatial solitons are observed in an optically pumped semiconductor resonator. The pumping allows us to reduce considerably the light intensity necessary for the existence of the solitons and alleviates thermal load problems. Experiments are found to agree qualitatively with calculations based on a simple large-aperture semiconductor resonator model. The role of the signs of the absorptive and reactive nonlinearities in soliton existence is discussed in relation to the nonlinear resonance effect, the tilted-wave mechanism of pattern formation, and the sign of the population inversion.     

Transverse compression of two-photon wave packets

A method for generating two-photon wave packets (biphotons) with a small width of the spatial intensity correlation function (correlation radius) has been considered. We propose to prepare a two-photon wave packet inhomogeneously broadened in the angle by means of spontaneous parametric down-conversion in an inhomogeneous crystal. Such biphotons are not diffraction limited; i.e., their correlation radius is much larger than the inverse width of the spatial spectrum. However, the correlation radius of such a biphoton decreases as the biphoton propagates in free space, and transverse compression occurs at a certain distance from the crystal; i.e., the biphoton becomes diffraction limited.     

Correlation or decoherence? Quantum beats of atomic inversion in a resonant coherent field

It is shown that the standard reduction procedure (i.e., the calculation of the density matrix of the observable subsystem from the density matrix of a closed quantum system) bringing about decoherence corresponds to the limiting approximation, where the unobservable subsystem is assumed to be in the stationary state with minimum information (infinite temperature). An approximate set of interrelation (correlation) equations for the density matrices of the subsystems is derived. It is shown that the correlation of atom and field can be manifested as the inversion beats of a two-level atom in the known experimental scheme of resonator QED. Experimental observation of such beats would indicate that the observable subsystem (atom) generally conserves information about quantum coherence of the unobservable subsystem (field).     

Effects of coherence on anisotropic electromagnetic Gaussian-Schell model beams on propagation

An analytical formula for the cross-spectral density matrix of the electric field of anisotropic electromagnetic Gaussian-Schell model beams propagating in free space is derived by using a tensor method. The effects of coherence on those beams are studied. It is shown that two anisotropic stochastic electromagnetic beams that propagate from the source plane z=0 into the half-space z>0 may have different beam shapes (i.e., spectral density) and states of polarization in the half-space, even though they have the same beam shape and states of polarization in the source plane. This fact is due to a difference in the coherence properties of the field in the source plane.