Polarization-controlled single photons

Vacuum-stimulated Raman transitions are driven between two magnetic substates of a 87Rb atom strongly coupled to an optical cavity. A magnetic field lifts the degeneracy of these states, and the atom is alternately exposed to laser pulses of two different frequencies. This produces a stream of single photons with alternating circular polarization in a predetermined spatiotemporal mode. MHz repetition rates are possible as no recycling of the atom between photon generations is required. Photon indistinguishability is tested by time-resolved two-photon interference.     

The effect of degenerate atomic levels on the field state dissipation in two—photon Jaynes—Cummings model

The dissipation of the field in the two-photonJaynes-Cummings model (JCM) with degenerate atomic levels was studied.The initial degenerate atomic state affects the field coherence loss,when the degenerate atom is initially in an equal probability superposition state,the field coherence loss is smallest,It is found that the degeneracy of the atomic level increases the period of entanglement between the atom and the field.When the degeneracy was considered,the coherence properties of the field could be affected by the reservoir qualitatively,if a nonlinear two-photon process is involved.This is different from the dissipation of one-photon JCM with degenerate atomic levels.     

Cooperative two-photon resonance fluorescence of a three-level atom

We have calculated the Green function describing the physical process where a three level atom interacts with a strong pump field as well as with a weak perturbing signal field in the limit of high photon densities. The theory is then used to describe the cooperative two-photon resonance fluorescence which occurs when the sum of the two atomic transition frequencies is nearly twice the frequency of the pump field. Our atomic system is equivalent to a two-level atom when the degeneracy of the ground state is removed by a Stark field. The excitation spectrum has been found to consist of new bands and sidebands which exist only in the presence of the Stark field. The resonance process which occurs when the Stark splitting is in the neighbourhood of the energy shift induced by the laser field has been discussed in detail.     

Two-photon lasers based on intersubband transitions in semiconductor quantum wells

We propose to make a two-photon laser based on intersubband (sublevel) transitions in semiconductor nanostructures. The advantages and feasibility of such a two-photon laser are analyzed in detail using the density matrix approach. Both one-photon and two-photon gains in a three subband quantum well structure are studied on the same footing to show how the two-photon gain can be maximized, while the competing one-photon gain is minimized. The results show that a sufficient two-photon gain can be achieved to overcome one-photon competition and the loss of a conventional semiconductor cavity, making intersubband transitions one of the very few feasible approaches to two-photon lasing.     

Thermo-optical effect and saturation of nonlinear absorption induced by gray tracking in a 532-nm-pumped KTP optical parametric oscillator

We present experiments that show that gray tracking modifies the parametric gain and the generated wavelengths of a KTP optical parametric oscillator pumped at 532 nm near degeneracy. These perturbations occur over a limited range of pump intensity. We propose a satisfactory model that takes into account photochromic damage, the thermo-optical effect, and the combined processes of creation and saturation of a two-photon absorber at 532 nm. The temperature dependence of Sellmeier equations of KTP is also established at 20-200 degrees C.     

Polarization and phase control of two-photon absorption in an isotropic molecular system

<正>We theoretically and experimentally study the polarization and phase control of two-photon absorption in an isotropic molecular system.We theoretically show that the two-photon transition probability decreases when the laser polarization changes from linear through elliptical to circular,and the laser polarization does not affect the control efficiency of two-photon transition probability by shaping the spectral phase.These theoretical results are experimentally confirmed in coumarin 480.Furthermore,we propose that the combination of the laser polarization with the spectral phase modulation can further increase the control efficiency of the two-photon absorption.     

Generating controllable atom-light entanglement with a Raman atom laser system

We introduce a scheme for creating continuous variable entanglement between an atomic beam and an optical field, by using squeezed light to outcouple atoms from a Bose-Einstein condensate via a Raman transition. We model the full multimode dynamics of the atom laser beam and the squeezed optical field and show that, with appropriate two-photon detuning and two-photon Rabi frequency, the transmitted light is entangled in amplitude and phase with the outcoupled atom laser beam. The degree of entanglement is controllable via changes in the two-photon Rabi frequency of the outcoupling process.     

Two-photon near- and far-field fluorescence microscopy with continuous-wave excitation

We report on scanning far- and near-field two-photon microscopy of cell nuclei stained with DAPI and bisbenzimidazole Hoechst 33342 (BBI-342) with the 647-nm laser line of a cw ArKr mixed-gas laser. Two-photon-excited fluorescence images are obtained for 50-200 mW of average power at the sample. A nearly quadratic dependence of fluorescence intensity on laser power confirmed the two-photon effect. The nonlinearity was further supported by evidence of three-dimensional sectioning in a scanning far-field microscope. We find that the cw two-photon irradiation sufficient for imaging within typically 5 s does not significantly impair cell cycling of BBI-342-labeled live cells. Finally, high-resolution imaging in scanning near-field microscopy with good contrast is demonstrated.     

Fabrication of a micro-optical lens using femtosecond laser 3D micromachining for two-photon imaging of bio-tissues

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, on the application of a micro-optical lens fabricated by three-dimensional (3D) femtosecond laser direct writing for two-photon fluorescence imaging of biological tissues. We show that the two-photon fluorescence images of a plant leaf tissue acquired with the micro-optical lens are comparable to that of a 5× objective lens. Our result represents an important step towards the application of micro-optical components fabricated by femtosecond laser micromachining in miniaturized nonlinear fluorescence microscopy applications, such as two-photon endoscopy.     

Nonlinearly limited saturable-absorber mode locking of an erbium fiber laser

We describe an erbium fiber laser that is passively mode locked by a novel, precision antireflection-coated semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror that incorporates an additional two-photon absorber. It is shown that passive mode locking evolves from a Q-switching instability. The results are achieved by use of saturable absorbers that provide a large (15%) nonlinear (saturable) loss. Exploiting two-photon absorption can substantially reduce the peak power of the Q-switched pulses, which results in improved reliability of the laser. Moreover, two-photon absorption can be used to produce an optimal stability range for saturable-absorber mode locking.     

Rubidium isotope shifts and hyperfine structure by two-photon spectroscopy with a multi-mode laser

The technique of two-photon laser spectroscopy without Doppler broadening is applied to atomic rubidium vapor. The hyperfine splitting and isotope shifts of several highly excited states are measured. We demonstrate the suitability of a tunable laser source oscillating simultaneously in many longitudinal modes for two-photon spectroscopy.     

Theoretical analysis on two-photon absorption spectroscopy in a confined four-level atomic system

We investigate theoretically two-photon absorption spectroscopy modified by a control field in a confined Y-type four-level system. Dicke-narrowing effect occurs both in two-photon absorption lines and the dips of transparency against two-photon absorption due to enhanced contribution of slow atoms. We also find that the suppression and the enhancement of two-photon absorption can be modified by changing the strength of the control field and the detuning of three laser fields. This control of two-photon absorption may have some applications in information processing and optical devices.     

关于双光子激光损耗机制的研究

本文利用非相对论量子电动力学理论,分别研究热光场和真空辐射场与级联三能级原子的双光子作用过程,阐明在双光子激光中,原子的热损耗所起的重要作用,损耗过程体现为双光子跃迁损失。并证明忽略热噪声影响的条件,给出产生双光子激光对腔Q值的量级要求。 关键词：     

On nonclassical effects in two-photon optical bistability and two-photon laser

We analyse the fluctuations at steady state in the good quality cavity case in two-photon lasers with running wave and two-photon absorptive optical bistability in a ring cavity. In the case of two-photon laser we do not find any nonclassical effect, contrary to expectations. On the other hand, in two-photon optical bistability we find squeezing and antibunching in the low transmission branch. The maximum reduction of fluctuations that can be obtained is slightly larger than by a factor of two.     

Theory of two-photon lasers III

We treat the semiclassical equations and the Fokker-Planck equation of a two-photon laser with one or two injected signals and treat both the degenerate and nondegenerate case. The resulting behaviour in the two-photon laser is discussed by means of potential functions which allows one to determine the stable, unstable, and metastable states.     

Two-photon excited photoluminescence of photonic quantum ring laser structures

We report on the two-photon excited photoluminescence of photonic quantum ring laser structures using Ti:Sapphire femtosecond pulsed laser. Using two-photon excited photoluminescence microscopy, we were able to image the laser structures when optically excited and compare the results with previously obtained images on electrically pumped photonic quantum ring lasers. We also propose a method to evaluate the Rayleigh band on the circumference of these structures.     

Two-photon laser and optical-bistability sidemode instabilities

Two-photon laser oscillation and optical bistability have been observed and studied theoretically by various groups. The studies have not considered the buildup of sidemodes. We have extended the corresponding one-photon sidemode treatments to two-photon transitions for which no resonant intermediate levels exist. For the two-photon laser, we find a wide region of single-wavelength instability for a centrally tuned strong mode. For the corresponding two-photon absorptive optical bistability, we predict no single-wavelength instabilities. For strong-mode detuning, we find that appreciable regions of sidemode gain exist for both problems allowing multiwavelength instabilities to occur.     

Rapid pulse shaping with homodyne detection for measuring nonlinear optical signals

We have designed a common-mode interferometric acousto-optic pulse shaper that is capable of shaping individual pulses differently from a mode-locked laser. The design enables the measurement of weak nonlinear optical signals such as two-photon absorption and self-phase modulation at megahertz rates. The experimental apparatus incorporates homodyne detection as a means of resolving the phase of the detected signals. The fast data acquisition rate and the ability to perform measurements in scattering media make this experimental apparatus amenable to imaging applications analogous to measurements of two-photon fluorescence using a mode-locked laser.     

Adaptive pulse compression by two-photon absorption in semiconductors

We investigate the adaptive optimization of broadband laser pulses, using a closed-loop learning algorithm in which the merit function is derived from two-photon absorption in semiconductors. Photoluminescence experiments with CdS thin films and photocurrent measurements of a GaAsP photodiode have been performed. The experimental data demonstrate that reliable and accurate pulse compression to the bandwidth limit can be achieved, unperturbed by nontrivial phase effects. Therefore two-photon absorption proves to be an easy-to-implement alternative to second-harmonic generation for the compression of broadband laser pulses.     

Up-conversion luminescence polarization control in Er~(3+)-doped NaYF_4 nanocrystals

We propose a femtosecond laser polarization modulation scheme to control the up-conversion(UC) luminescence in Er~(3+)-doped NaYF_4 nanocrystals dispersed in the silicate glass. We show that the UC luminescence can be suppressed when the laser polarization is changed from linear through elliptical to circular, and the higher repetition rate will yield the lower control efficiency. We theoretically analyze the physical control mechanism of the UC luminescence polarization modulation by considering on- and near-resonant two-photon absorption, energy transfer up-conversion, and excited state absorption, and show that the polarization control mainly comes from the contribution of near-resonant two-photon absorption. Furthermore, we propose a method to improve the polarization control efficiency of UC luminescence in rare-earth ions by applying a two-color femtosecond laser field.