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.     

Combination of a continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator and a femtosecond frequency comb for optical frequency metrology

We combined a tunable continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator and a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser frequency comb to provide a phase-coherent bridge between the visible and the mid-infrared spectral ranges. As a first demonstration of this new technique we performed a direct frequency comparison between an iodine-stabilized Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm and an infrared methane optical frequency standard at 3.39 microm.     

Kinetics of a superconductor excited with a femtosecond optical pulse

Superconducting state dynamics following excitation of a superconductor with a femtosecond optical pulse is studied in terms of a phenomenological Rothwarf and Taylor model. Analytical solutions for various limiting cases are obtained. The model is found to account for the intensity and temperature dependence of both photoinduced quasiparticle density, as well as pair-breaking and superconducting state recovery dynamics in conventional as well as cuprate superconductors.     

Stabilization of femtosecond lasers for optical frequency metrology and direct optical to radio frequency synthesis

We have actively stabilized the comb of frequencies from a mode-locked femtosecond laser using a Fabry-Perot reference cavity. This technique offers the ability to synthesize a comb of highly stable radio frequencies directly from optical transitions. The measured fractional frequency instability of the components of the frequency comb relative to the reference cavity was <5x10(-13) in 0.1 sec. The variation of the optical mode spacing versus frequency of the reference cavity was also directly measured using this technique.     

Analytic solutions of the optical Bloch equations

We present analytic solutions of optical Bloch equations. We found that the solutions exhibit two different types of the behavior: one is oscillatory, and the other is a simple decay. The boundary dividing the two different types of solutions is exactly calculated in a two-dimensional space of the laser detuning and Rabi frequency. We also obtained simple analytic solutions for special conditions.     

Rabi frequency as a carrier frequency of radiation

An analytical formula with three-center terms has been proposed for the calculation of the dynamic spin susceptibility of electron-doped cuprates. The results of the calculation of the imaginary part of the susceptibility reproduce the main features of inelastic neutron scattering and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. It has been shown that the high-frequency behavior of the dispersion of collective spin excitations is mainly determined by the parameters of the conduction band and hardly depends on the exchange coupling of copper spins. The spin and superconducting gap parameters, as well as correlation effects associated with the three-center terms, play the determining role in the formation of the spin response in the region Q ≈ (π, π).     

Difference frequency generation by optical rectification of femtosecond laser pulse in GaAs crystal with a periodic domain structure

We study the influence of spatial boundedness of a femtosecond laser pulse (FLP) on the efficiency of generation of difference frequency radiation (DFR) in a GaAs crystal with a periodic domain structure. It is shown that at propagation of DFR a spectral-angular filtration occurs in the transverse distribution of the beam. An expression is obtained for the frequency-angular spectrum of DFR. For a pump pulse with the duration of 100 fs, the beam radius of 24μm, the energy of 30 nJ, and the wavelength of 1.98μm propagating in 1.716-mm long GaAs crystal with the domain structure period of 74.6μm the efficiency of generation of DFR at the wavelength of 14μm is calculated to be close to 2×10⁻⁶.     

On the analytical solution of the optical Bloch equations

We present in this note the analytical solution of the optical Bloch equations for different scenarios of the parameter space. Our method partially follows the reported by H-R. Noh and W. Jhe [Opt. Commun. 283, (2010) 2353]. However, it differs substantially with the analytical solution reported by these authors. We use the exact solution provided by numerical standard algorithms as a pattern for comparison purposes. We find out a perfect matching of our solution and the numerical one.     

Controllable photoinduced optical attenuation in a single-mode optical fiber by irradiation of a femtosecond pulse laser

Novel optical attenuation fibers were fabricated by the irradiation of a focused infrared femtosecond pulsed laser onto the core of a silica glass single-mode optical fiber. Optical attenuation at a wavelength of 1.55 microm proportionally increased with increasing numbers of irradiation points and was controllable under laser irradiation conditions. The single-mode property of the waveguide and the mode-field diameter of the optical fiber were maintained after irradiation of the femtosecond laser. It is suggested that the attenuation results from optical scattering at photoinduced spots formed inside the fiber core.     

Integrable equations of a few cycle optical pulse propagation

Evolution of the integrable Reduced Maxwell-Bloch equations describing interaction of light pulses with the two-level system in dipole approximation beyond the slow envelopes application is reviewered.     

Adaptive control of femtosecond pulse propagation in optical fibers

Nonlinear effects present fundamental obstacles to the propagation of femtosecond pulses of detectable energy in single-mode optical fibers, inducing severe distortion even after a very short (a few meters) propagation distance. We show here that adaptive pulse shaping can overcome these limitations by synthesizing pulses that are self-correcting for higher-order nonlinear effects when they are launched in the fiber. This approach would not only affect optical communications but also yield benefits in various disciplines requiring optimized fiber-based femtosecond pulse delivery, for example, nonlinear imaging techniques such as multiphoton microscopy, material processing, and medical diagnostics.     

Absolute frequency measurement of iodine lines with a femtosecond optical synthesizer

We have used a single laser femtosecond optical frequency synthesizer together with a widely tunable Nd:YAG laser to measure the absolute frequency of several absorption lines in molecular iodine around 532 nm. The use of two different repetition frequencies allows us to determine the number of modes used for the frequency measurement unambiguously. The lines also provide data for the determination of improved ro-vibrational constants of the iodine molecule. Received: 3 July 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001     

Improvement of the fiber raman soliton laser for femtosecond optical pulse generation

Femtosecond optical pulses generated from a synchronously pumped fiber Raman soliton laser (FRASL) have been shown to have large excess noise and high background light (i.e., the pedestal) levels. In this paper, to improve the FRASL, the operation characteristics of the FRASL are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that real femtosecond soliton oscillation in the FRASL can be obtained only when the soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS) effect in the fibers is suppressed and proper choices of both the Stokes oscillation wavelength and the pump power level are required for the SSFS suppression in the FRASL. By using a tunable all-fiber Raman ring laser, optical pulses as short as 400 fs with a low white AM noise level of -120 dBc / Hz have been generated from the compact FRASL with SSFS suppression. Based on the theoretical analyses, we propose to use an intracavity saturable absorber to prevent the generation of high-level Stokes background light in the FRASL, and the feasibility of this method is shown by numerical simulations.     

Nonlinear optical studies in semiconductor-doped glasses under femtosecond pulse excitation

Nonlinear optical studies in semiconductor-doped glasses (SDGs) are performed under femtosecond laser pulse excitation. Z-scan experiments with 800 nm wavelength pulses are used to excite SDG samples in the resonance and non-resonance regimes. Schott colour glass filter OG 515 shows stronger two-photon absorption than GG 420 and both the samples exhibit positive nonlinearity. However, in resonantly excited RG 850 the intensity-dependent Z-scan shows transition from saturable to reverse saturable absorption behaviour with the increase in intensity.     

High-order optical vortex harmonics generated by relativistic femtosecond laser pulse

Harmonics generated by an intense femtosecond Gaussian laser pulse normally incident on a spiral-shaped thin foil target were studied.By using two-dimensional(2D) particle-in-cell(PIC) simulation,we observed evident odd harmonics signals in the reflection direction and found that the reflected field has a helical structure determined by the target shape.This method provides a new way to generate an intense ultraviolet vortex with high-order topological charge by use of ultrahigh intense laser-driven harmonics.     

35 J broadband femtosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplification system

We report on what is believed to be the first large-aperture and high-energy optical parametric chirped pulse amplification system. The system, based on a three-stage amplifier, shows 25% pump-to-signal conversion efficiency and amplification of the full 70 nm width of the seed spectrum. Pulse compression to 84 fs achieved after amplification indicates a potential of 300 TW pulse power for 35 J amplified pulse energy.     

Emergence of electromagnetically induced absorption in a perturbation solution of optical Bloch equations

We study phenomenon of electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) in the Hanle configuration by applying a perturbative method to solve linear system of optical Bloch equations (OBEs) for the case of closed F _g = 1 → F _e = 2 transition. The method is applied assuming stationary case and a weak laser fields (Ω ≪ Γ, i.e., Rabi frequency small compared to spontaneous emission rate). This way, we calculate (both numerically and analytically) higher order corrections to density matrix. Odd corrections give contributions to optical coherences, while even corrections contribute to populations and Zeeman coherences. The method gives insight into mechanism of transfer of coherences and transfer of populations between Zeeman sublevels. We have found that the ground-state coherences (2nd correction to coherences) are crucial for the 4th correction to the change of populations which brings EIA type behavior of the Hanle spectrum. Using exact analytical expressions we further discuss further the role of decoherence of the ground-state sublevels when forming EIA.