Sub-half-wavelength localization of a two-level atom via trichromatic phase manipulation

We show that it is possible to localize a two-level atom in a half-wavelength region by using a trichromatic field to drive the atom. Of the trichromatic components, one sideband is a standing-wave field with position-dependent amplitude. By varying the sum of relative phases of the sidebands of the trichromatic field to the central component, the atom is localized in either of the two half-wavelength regions with 50% detecting probability when the spontaneously emitted photons are detected.     

Localization of a Three-Level Cascade Atom via Resonant Absorption

We show that it is possible to localize a three-level cascade atom under the resonance condition when it passes through a standing-wave field. The localization peaks appear at the nodes of the standing-wave field, the detecting probability is 50% in the subwavelength domain, and the peaks are narrower on the resonance than the off- resonance. The absorption is the same as that in the usual two-level medium at the nodes and is greatly suppressed outside the nodes due to the Autler-Townes splitting. This is in sharp contrast to the lambda scheme, in which the localization is impossible under the same resonance condition due to the depletion of population of the initial state by the probe field at the nodes and the electromagnetically induced transparency outside the nodes.     

Sub-Half-Wavelength Atom Localization via Coherent Control of Autler-Townes Spontaneous Spectrum

We show that it is possible to localize an atom in a half-wavelength region by relaxing the strict condition that the atom is prepared in a specific excited state as in the recently proposed scheme [Phys. Rev. A 65 （2002） 043819]. In particular, we consider a four-level atom, for which a weak exciting field transfers population from the ground state to the excited state and three control fields （one standing-wave field while two travelling-wave fields） couple the excited state and two auxiliary states. By tuning the exciting field and by varying the collective phase of the control fields, the atom is localized in one of the two half-wavelength regions with 50% detecting probability. The main advantage of the scheme is the experimental accessibility and controllability.     

Microwave control of spontaneous emission of a driven four-level atom in photonic crystals

We study the coherent control of spontaneous emission of a double-driven four-level atom embedded in photonic crystals. Combined effect of different relative locations between the upper band edge and the two upper levels and the phase of microwave coupling field is discussed. It is shown that quantum interference effect such as laser-induced dark line depends strongly on the phase of microwave field.     

Controlling spontaneous emission in a driven M-type atom by low-frequency coherence

We have studied the spontaneous emission behaviour in a five-level M-type atom driven by two optical fields of high frequencies and a microwave field of low-frequency. In absence of non-orthogonal decaying pathways, due to microwave field induced low-frequency coherence, the present model produces the emission spectrum resembling that of a three-level system controlled by the effect of vacuum induced decay-interference. For particular sets of values of the Rabi frequencies of the resonant coherent fields, the system exhibits quantum interference induced switching effect. By using this model, we have shown that the phenomenon of narrowing can be induced in the emission peaks without any detuning and phase control of the coherent fields. With the increase in the value of the Rabi frequency of the microwave field, this feature will be accompanied by the peak-compression and -repulsion effect. When the coherent fields are far from resonance, the appearance of the single-photon and the two-photon peaks in the emission spectrum can be easily controlled by changing the value of the Rabi frequency of the microwave field. We have shown the appearance of multiple dark regions in the emission line shape for equal as well as unequal decay rates of two emission pathways. Other interesting phenomena like elimination, enhancement and suppression of spectral line are also explored in various resonant and non-resonant cases.     

Ultrafast control of coherent population transfer with a train of femtosecond pulse pairs

We investigate the ultrafast control of coherent population transfer in a Λ-type three-level system with a train of pump-Stokes femtosecond pulse pairs, where the pulse sequences can be produced either by optical delay line or by pulse shaping with sinusoidal phase modulation. It is shown that when the pump and Stokes pulses in each pair are applied in the counterintuitive order, similar to that in the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage technique, due to temporal quantum interference (besides optical interference in the case of overlapped subpulses), ultrafast control of coherent population transfer can be achieved by scanning the inter-pair time delay or by changing the sinusoidal phase modulation parameters. This method has potential applications in ultrafast control of chemical reactions and quantum information processing.     

Coherent control of laser pulse temporal duration: An experimental proposal

We present a study of temporal compression resulting from the coherent control peculiarities of electromagnetically induced transparency propagation dynamics. We discuss the crucial conditions required to accomplish temporal compression in an experiment with a sample of hot atoms.     

Quantum interference effect on spontaneous emission spectrum in a doubly driven M-type atom

An M-type atomic system with two closely spaced upper levels interacting with the same modes of the vacuum radiation field exhibits the interference effect between the spontaneous decay channels. The phenomenon of this decay-interference along with the dynamically induced quantum interference created in the system by two coherent fields can change significantly the spontaneous emission spectrum. Our results highlight large enhancement of ultranarrow spectral components within the spontaneous emission line shape in various conditions. We have shown the occurrence of two contradistinctive phenomena: compression of two spectral lines towards their mid-position and the spreading of two lines away from each other under different dynamic conditions. The phenomenon of suppression of spectral line and the quenching of spontaneous emission have also been focused.     

Quantum interference effects in a multi-driven transition Fg = 3 ↔ Fe = 2

We calculated and studied the quantum coherence effects of a degenerate transition F_g = 3 ↔ F_e = 2 system interacting with a weak linearly polarized (with σ_± components) probe light and a strong linearly polarized (with σ_± components) coupling field. Due to the competition between the drive Rabi frequency and the Zeeman splitting, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) are appeared at the different values of applied magnetic field in both cases that the Zeeman splitting of excited state Δe is smaller than the Zeeman splitting of ground state Δg (i.e., Δe < Δg) and Δe > Δg. It is shown that the resonance is broader and contrasts are higher for Δe < Δg than that for Δe > Δg at the same Rabi frequencies of probe and coupling fields.     

Modified spontaneous emission spectra of a three-level V-type atom in photonic crystals

We introduce a modified density of modes to investigate the spontaneous emission spectrum of a three-level V-type atom in photonic crystal using Laplace transform. The atom’s steady state behavior of spontaneous emission is treated for different locations of the upper band-edge frequency. Furthermore; the influence of quantum interference between the two decay channels on spontaneous emission is discussed.     

Absorption Changes Induced by Off-Resonance Driving a Degenerate Two-Level System

The alteration of atomic absorption via quantum coherence is observed in the degenerate two-level atomic system. It is shown that when the detuning of coupling field equals to that of probe light, i.e. two-photon resonance, the reduction of atomic absorption via electromagnetically induced transparency occurs. However, when we tune the coupling field to two-photon off-resonance, the enhancement of absorption is obtained for the probe field. The influences of one-photon detuning and intensity of coupling field on absorption are also experimentally demonstrated.     

Coherent Population Trapping Induced by Phase Modulated and Fluctuating Fields

We examine the effects of cross correlated phase fluctuations on the coherent population trapping （CPT） induced by a pair of phase-modulated fields with equal modulation frequencies in a three-level A system. The maximal coherence of-0.5, which appears when CPT occurs for equal modulation indices, is preserved in the presence of the critically cross-correlated fluctuations. Unexpectedly, the non-maximal coherence, which is established when CPT is obtained for different modulation indices, is significantly enhanced due to the critically cross-correlated fluctuations.     

Optimal control of one- and two-photon transitions with shaped femtosecond pulses and feedback

This paper reports two pump–probe experiments in sodium where dynamically tailored ultrashort pulses from a Ti:Sapphire-pumped optical parametric amplifier were employed. The first study focuses on the one-photon Na(3s→3p) transition to derive sensitive criteria which judge the performance of a frequency-domain pulse shaper using a spatial light modulator. On the basis of the interpretation, follow-up experiments are suggested to test their cogency. The second experiment uses coherent quantum control by placing an appropriate phase distribution on the incident beam to enhance or cancel the transition probability in the nonresonant two-photon process Na(3s→→5s). Ignorant of the “ideal” phase function, an evolutionary algorithm which uses a feedback derived from the experiment performs the optimization and produces the desired bright or dark pulses within a few minutes. Attention is given to the role of resonant 3s→3p transitions excited by the spectral wings of the pump pulse. Different parametrizations of the phase distribution have been examined. Two of these produced solutions which had not previously been predicted by theory still meet the objective of the experiment. The study represents the first successful application of a feedback-organized self-learning algorithm to the design of dark pulses. Received: 3 November 1999 / Published online: 5 July 2000     

Interactions of Three Dual-Dressing Effects of Four-Wave Mixing in a Five-Level Atomic System

We study the four-wave mixing （FWM） in an opening five-level system with two dressing fields. There axe three kinds of doubly dressing mechanisms （parallel cascade, sequential cascade, and nested cascade） in the system for doubly dressed four-wave mixing. These mechanisms reflect different correlations between two dressing fields and different effects of two dressing fields to the FWM. Investigation of these mechanisms is helpful to understand the generated high-order nonlinear optical signal dressed by multi-fields.     

Coherent Phase Control of Ultrafast Polarization Beats in Reverse V-Type Three-Level System

We investigate the third-order nonlinear absorption and dispersion of femto- and atto-second polarization beats between the one-photon degenerate four-wave mixing process and the two-photon nondegenerate four-wave mixing process in the pure homogeneously-broadened reverse V-three-level using twin noisy fields. The third-order nonlinear response can be controlled and modified by the colour-locked correlation of twin noisy fields. Most importantly, the coherent phase control in optical heterodyne detection for studying the phase dispersion of the third-order susceptibility is demonstrated. The radiation-matter detuning oscillation is also considered in the freauencv domain.     

Coherent hole-burnings induced by a bichromatic laser field

In a Doppler-broadened three-level Λ-type system driven simultaneously by a coupling laser and two equal-amplitude saturating laser fields with a frequency difference 2δ, the absorption spectrum of a weak probe laser exhibits multiple deep spectral holes through coherent hole-burning CHB with controllable numbers, widths, depths, and positions. More significant, changing δ or lasers directions, CHBs can degenerate into narrower and deeper spectral holes where the slope of the refractive index is very steep. The multiple narrow spectral holes in a single absorption profile are expected to have potential applications in high density storage, optical information processes, and slow-light.     

Competition between Dispersion and Absorption of Doubly-Dressed Four-Wave Mixing and Dressed Six-Wave Mixing

We study the competition between dispersion and absorption of doubly-dressed four-wave mixing （DDFWM） and dressed six-wave mixing. In the case of weak coupling fields limit, we find DDFWM signal is affected by destructive interference between four-wave mixing（FWM） and six-wave mixing as wen as constructive interference between FWM and eight-wave mixing. By analysing the difference between two kinds of doubly dressing mechanisms （parallel cascade and nested cascade） in this opening five-level system, we can further understand the generated high-order nonlinear optical signal dressed by multi-fields.     

Dicke-Narrowing Spectroscopy of Doubly Dressed Electromagnetically Induced Transparency and Singly Dressed Four-Wave-Mixing in a Confined Atomic System

Dicke-narrowing effect appears both in doubly dressed electromagnetically induced transparency and singly dressed four-wave-mixing lines due to the contribution of slow atoms resulting from de-excited effects of atom-wall collision and transient behaviour of atoms in a confined system. A robust recipe for high resolution spectroscopy of electromagnetically induced transparency dressed by two fields and four-wave-mixing lines comparable with the cold atoms is achievable in a thin vapour cell in experiments.     

Interaction of Triply-Dressing Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in Five-level Folding Atomic System

We consider a five-level atomic folding system, which involve two kinds of dressing mechanisms （the nested- cascade and the sequential-cascade） in interaction of three-dressing fields, the numerical results show that three- dressing fields are interchangeable under certain conditions, which can be considered as two four-level sub-system configurations （a nested-cascade N configuration and a sequential-cascade inverted-Y configuration）.     

Dressed Four-Wave Mixing Spectroscopy Modified by Polarization Interference and Atom-Wall Collision in Micrometric Thin Cells

Dressed four-wave mixing （DFWM） spectroscopy is investigated theoretically in some micrometric thin cells. It is found that DFWM spectra can be modified by polarization interference of atoms and transient effects induced by atom-wall collision. This modification can lead to width-narrowing of DFWM lines and facilitates to implement experiment of high resolution DFWM spectroscopy in a confined atomic system.