铀原子单色多光子共振电离

利用Ｎｄ：ＹＡＧ激光泵浦的脉冲染料激光记录了铀原子产以多光子共振电离谱。获得的绝大多数共振属于三光子电离过程，而另外一些共振，我们认为是四光子电离过程。     

Experimental high-gain quantum-injected optical parametric amplification and multiphoton phase-covariant cloning

We investigate multiphoton states generated by high-gain optical parametric amplification of a single injected photon—polarization encoded as a qubit. The experimental configuration exploits the optimal phase-covariant cloning. The output state of the apparatus is found to exhibit the quantum superposition property of mesoscopic multiphoton assemblies involving about 300 photons. This work represents an experimental advance toward the test of several fundamental quantum processes in mesoscopic or macroscopic frameworks.     

Subband spectroscopy at room temperature

Distinct resonances of the infrared excitation of surface subbands on Si(100) are observed to ～ 300 K. The linewidth is found to increase with rising temperature. We show that in general the optical width cannot be directly related to transport mobility.     

Analysis of the spectral linewidth of three-cavity semiconductor laser diodes

The spectral linewidth for a semiconductor laser diode coupled to two external cavities (known as a three-cavity laser diode) is studied in the article. A closed-form expression for the linewidth of this laser is derived by analyzing the number of photons in the laser cavity. It is found that, because of the optical feedback provided by the external cavities, the photon lifetime becomes longer than that of a solitary Fabry-Perot (FP) laser, hence reducing the value of the spectral linewidth. Our theoretical investigations reveal that the linewidth of a three-cavity laser can be reduced further by using external mirrors with high reflectivities and using anti-refection (AR) coatings on the laser diode facets. We have also studied the effects of uncertainties in the linewidth enhancement factor a due to optical feedback and found that such uncertainties have negligible effects on the validity of our results.     

Level Mixing Resonance Spectroscopy (LEMS)— a novel probe of non-linear nuclear quadrupole resonance

LEMS is discussed for the case of a nuclear spin experiencing a static EFG (V_zz) and an external magnetic field (B) applied nearly colinear to V_zz). It is shown that the nature of resonances at level crossings strikingly parallels those encountered in conventional NQR with the important difference that non-linear effects involving multiphoton transitions (Δm > 1) are readily observed in LEMS because of large equivalent RF fields possible. The linewidth of these resonances are power-broadened and can be continuosly tuned by merely changing the angle between V_zz and B.     

Linearly and circular dichroism in a semiconductor with a complex valence band with allowance for four-photon absorption of light

This paper presents a theoretical study of the linear and circular dichroism of multiphoton absorption of light in semiconductors with a complex valence band. Matrix elements of optical transitions between subbands of the valence bands of a p-GaAs semiconductor are calculated. Transitions connected with both nonsimultaneous absorption of single photons and simultaneous absorption of two photons are taken into account. An expression for the temperature dependence of the coefficient of multiphoton absorption of polarized radiation with allowance for transitions between subbands of heavy and light holes is obtained.     

Quantum lithography beyond the diffraction limit via Rabi oscillations

We propose a quantum optical method to do the subwavelength lithography. Our method is similar to the traditional lithography but adding a critical step before dissociating the chemical bound of the photoresist. The subwavelength pattern is achieved by inducing the multi-Rabi oscillation between the two atomic levels. The proposed method does not require multiphoton absorption and the entanglement of photons. It is expected to be realizable using current technology.     

Photon antibunching in the photoluminescence spectra of a single carbon nanotube

We report the first observation of photon antibunching in the photoluminescence from single carbon nanotubes. The emergence of a fast luminescence decay component under strong optical excitation indicates that Auger processes are partially responsible for inhibiting two-photon generation. Additionally, the presence of exciton localization at low temperatures ensures that nanotubes emit photons predominantly one by one. The fact that multiphoton emission probability can be smaller than 5% suggests that carbon nanotubes could be used as a source of single photons for applications in quantum cryptography.     

Comparison of 87Rb N-resonances for D1 and D2 transitions

We report an experimental comparison of three-photon-absorption resonances (N-resonances) for the D1 and D2 optical transitions of thermal (87)Rb vapor. We find that the D2 N-resonance has better contrast, a broader linewidth, and a more symmetric line shape than the D1 N-resonance. Taken together, these factors imply superior performance for frequency standards operating on alkali D2 N-resonances, in contrast with coherent population trapping resonances, for which the D2 transition provides poorer frequency standard performance than the D1 transition.     

Influence of multiphoton detunings from resonance on adiabatic processes in a five-level system

The Schrödinger equation for a five-level system has been analyzed numerically for different values of multiphoton detuning from exact resonances. The range of admissible deviations for which the effect of multiphoton detunings on the eigenstate of the interaction Hamiltonian imitating a three-level system is insignificant has been determined. The effective population transfer and the possibility of double storage of optical information have been demonstrated.     

Nonlinear spectroscopy with a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)

We have evaluated the suitability of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diode (VCSEL) for spectroscopic applications. Despite its low output power it is possible to observe narrow resonances in a saturated absorption spectroscopy experiment on the cesium D ₂ transition at 852 nm, limited in width by the laser linewidth of several tens of MHz. High modulation efficiency of the VCSEL allows us to create modulation sidebands at 9.2 GHz frequency via direct modulation of the laser injection current. Using the carrier and either one of the sidebands coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances in a buffered cesium vapor can be prepared with linewidths below 130 Hz. With this very compact setup we have studied the dependence of CPT resonance position and linewidth as a function of optical detuning and find evidence of the influence of the excited state hyperfine structure. Received: 30 April 1999 / Revised version: 25 June 1999 / Published online: 30 November 1999     

Strong light‐matter coupling between a molecular vibrational mode in a PMMA film and a low‐loss mid‐IR microcavity

Microcavity devices exhibiting strong light‐matter coupling in the mid‐infrared spectral range offer the potential to explore exciting open physical questions pertaining to energy transfer between heat and light and can lead to a new generation of efficient wavelength tunable mid‐infrared sources of coherent light based on polariton Bose‐Einstein Condensation. Vibrational transitions of organic molecules, which often have strong absorption peaks in the infrared and considerably narrower linewidths than organic excitonic resonances, can generate polaritonic states in the mid‐infrared spectral range using microcavity devices. Here, narrow linewidth polaritonic resonances are exhibited in the mid‐infrared by coupling the carbonyl stretch vibrational transition of a polymethyl methacrylate film to the photonic resonance of a low optical‐loss mid‐infrared microcavity, which consisted of two Ge/ZnS dielectric Bragg reflectors. Rabi‐splitting of 14.3 meV is observed, with a 4.4 meV polariton linewidth at anti‐crossing. The large Rabi‐splitting relative to linewidth indicates efficient impedance‐matching between the bare vibrational and photonic states, and suggests molecular‐vibration polaritons incorporated in dielectric microcavities can be an enabling step towards realizing polariton optical switching and polariton condensation in the mid‐infrared spectral range.     

Low-threshold optical parametric oscillations in a whispering gallery mode resonator

In whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator light is guided by continuous total internal reflection along a curved surface. Fabricating such resonators from an optically nonlinear material one takes advantage of their exceptionally high quality factors and small mode volumes to achieve extremely efficient optical frequency conversion. Our analysis of the phase-matching conditions for optical parametric down-conversion (PDC) in a spherical WGM resonator shows their direct relation to the sum rules for photons' angular momenta and predicts a very low parametric oscillation threshold. We realized such an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on naturally phase-matched PDC in lithium niobate. We demonstrated a single-mode, strongly nondegenerate OPO with a threshold of 6.7 μW and linewidth under 10 MHz. This work demonstrates the remarkable capabilities of WGM-based OPOs.     

Electrical and optical properties of parabolic semiconducting quantum wells

We investigate theoretically the optical and electrical properties of parabolic semiconducting quantum well structures. In our calculations, we assume that the confinement of the carriers is in an infinite parabolic well. We show that the carrier mobility in the plane perpendicular to the direction of confinements is directly proportional to the harmonic oscillator length λ whose value depends upon the partitioning of the band gap discontinuity between the conduction and valence bands. We have also calculated the linewidth for intra-subband resonances which should occur for electromagnetic radiation polarized in the direction of carrier confinement and show that the linewidth is inversely proportional to λ and directly proportional to the temperature when the linewidth is dominated by acoustic phonon scattering. The absorption coefficient for interband optical transitions shows equally spaced steps as a function of photon energy where the value of the spacing between adjacent steps depends upon the partitioning of the band gap discontinuity. Carrier freeze-out in the intrinsic conduction occurs due to the presence of zero point energies in the conduction and valence bands arising from the carrier confinement. These zero point energies also are found to depend upon the partitioning of the band gap discontinuities. Therefore, information about the partitioning of the energy band gap discontinuity between the conduction and valence bands can be obtained by measuring these various optical and electrical transport properties of a parabolic quantum well semiconducting structure under those conditions when the model of an infinite parabolic well approximates the real system.     

Entanglement generation through the interplay of harmonic driving and interaction in coupled superconducting qubits

We study the manipulation of quantum entanglement by periodic external fields. As an entanglement measure we compute numerically the concurrence of two coupled superconducting qubits both driven by a dc + ac external control parameter. We show that when the driving term of the Hamiltonian commutes with the qubit–qubit interaction term, it is possible to create or destroy entanglement in a controlled way by tuning the system at or near multiphoton resonances. On the other hand, when the driving does not commute with the qubit–qubit interaction, the control and generation of entanglement induced by the driving field is more robust and extended in parameter space, beyond the multiphoton resonances.     

Optical fields in a multilayered microsphere with a quasiperiodic spherical stack

We studied the frequency spectrum of photons in a multilayered microsphere coated by a quasiperiodic (Fibonacci) dielectric stack numerically. We found that the transmittancy spectrum of such a stack consists of quasiband gaps and narrow resonances caused by re-reflection of optical waves. When the number (Fibonacci order) of layers increases, the band gaps and resonances split, and the structure of the frequency spectrum acquires a fractal form. We found the self-similarity of the frequency spectrum and evaluated the fractal dimension both for lossless and dissipative cases. The influence of a weak random deviation of spherical layers width is also discussed.     

Controlling the XUV transparency of helium using two-pathway quantum interference

Atoms irradiated with combined femtosecond laser and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) fields ionize through multiphoton processes, even when the energy of the XUV photon is below the ionization potential. However, in the presence of two different XUV photons and an intense laser field, it is possible to induce full electromagnetic transparency. Taking helium as an example, the laser field modifies its electronic structure, while the presence of two different XUV photons and the laser field leads to two distinct ionization pathways that can interfere destructively. This work demonstrates a new approach for coherent control in a regime of highly excited states and strong optical fields.     

Exciton fine structure splitting of single InGaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We show how the resonant absorption of the ground state neutral exciton confined in a single InGaAs self-assembled quantum dot can be directly observed in an optical transmission experiment. A spectrum of the differential transmitted intensity is obtained by sweeping the exciton energy into resonance with laser photons exploiting the voltage induced Stark-shift. We describe the details of this experimental technique and some example results which exploit the 1 μeV spectral resolution. In addition to the fine structure splitting of the neutral exciton and an upper bound on the homogeneous linewidth at 4.2 K, we also determine the transition electric dipole moment.     

Fast, low-noise, mode-by-mode, cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy by diode-laser self-locking

A new technique of cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy is described. Molecular absorption spectra are obtained by recording the transmission maxima of the successive TEM_oo resonances of a high-finesse optical cavity when a Distributed Feedback Diode Laser is tuned across them. A noisy cavity output is usually observed in such a measurement since the resonances are spectrally narrower than the laser. We show that a folded (V-shaped) cavity can be used to obtain selective optical feedback from the intracavity field which builds up at resonance. This induces laser linewidth reduction and frequency locking. The linewidth narrowing eliminates the noisy cavity output, and allows measuring the maximum mode transmissions accurately. The frequency locking permits the laser to scan stepwise through the successive cavity modes. Frequency tuning is thus tightly optimized for cavity mode injection. Our setup for this technique of Optical-Feedback Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) includes a 50 cm folded cavity with finesse ∼20 000 (ringdown time ∼20 μs) and allows recording spectra of up to 200 cavity modes (2 cm⁻¹) using 100 ms laser scans. We obtain a noise equivalent absorption coefficient of ∼5×10⁻¹⁰ cm⁻¹ for 1 s averaging over scans, with a dynamic range of four orders of magnitude.