Formation of ultracold polar molecules via Raman excitation

Alkali hydride molecules are very polar, exhibiting large ground-state dipole moments. As ultracold sources of alkali atoms, as well as hydrogen, have been created in the laboratory, we explore theoretically the feasibility of forming such molecules from a mixture of the ultracold atomic gases, employing a two-photon stimulated radiative association process -- Raman excitation. Using accurate molecular potential energy curves and dipole transition moments, we have calculated the rate coefficients for populating all the vibrational levels of the X state of LiH via the excited A state. We have found that significant molecule formation rates can be realized with laser intensities and atomic densities that are attainable experimentally. Because of the large X state dipole moment, rapid cascade occurs down the ladder of vibrational levels to v = 0. The calculated recoil momentum imparted to the molecule is small, and thus negligible trap loss results from the cascade process. This allows for the build-up of a large population of v = 0 trapped molecules.Received: 31 August 2004, Published online: 23 November 2004PACS: 34.50.Rk Laser-modified scattering and reactions - 32.80.Pj Optical cooling of atoms; trapping - 33.20.Vq Vibration-rotation analysis     

Dynamics of optical sine-Gordon solitons under double coherent pulse excitation

On the basis of a numerical simulation of the sine-Gordon equation the conclusion is made that the number of solitary waves is invariant with respect to the input pulse separation interval. But the value of this interval affects the form of the pulses: either 2π and a breather or 2π and a (± 2π) pair.     

Splitting of atomic wave packets under multizone Raman excitation

A multizone excitation of a double Λ-system with three lower and two excited states (the so-called M-atom) by an optical radiation field is presented. It is shown that the Raman excitation of such a system can be used to implement an effective atomic beam splitter in one of the lower states. The advantage of the scheme under consideration is that the formation of a space lattice of the atomic density takes place when the atomic system interacts only with the optical radiation field and does not require any additional efforts to select the internal states in which such spatial structures are formed.     

Stimulated Raman scattering and spontaneous Raman solitons in ammonia

In this study we report the first observation of spontaneous Raman solitons in stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) by the gas NH₃. The scattered radiation is called Stokes radiation. Raman solitons are of considerable interest, because their existence can be explained by quantum-mechanical fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in vacuum. We have observed spontaneous Raman solitons in a forward SRS configuration for two different molecular transitions of NH₃, the laser emissions at 58 μm and 72.6 μm wavelength. These are optically pumped by 10 μm CO₂-laser pulses with a duration of 100 ns and an energy of 150 mJ. Spontaneous Raman solitons are short spikes in the pump pulse which occur during its depletion. Their origin is the rapid π phase change of the Stokes seed. In contrast to other laboratories we have used single-pass cells. Thus, we have succeeded in observing multiple spontaneous Raman solitons during one pump pulse. Previous experiments with multi-pass cells never showed multiple solitons. Since multiple spontaneous Raman solitons have already been reported in an earlier experiment with a single-pass cell filled with hydrogen at high pressure, we conclude that such multiple Raman solitons can be observed mainly in this type of gas cell. Subsequently, we have performed statistical measurements on the delay time and the height of the spontaneous Raman solitons in the depleted pump pulse for the 58 μm-NH₃ emission. We have compared these statistics with theory and equivalent experimental results of other laboratories. They are in good agreement with the assumption that quantum-mechanical fluctuations are the origin of spontaneous Raman solitons. The most recent theories postulate that the origin of the formation of spontaneous Raman solitons can be explained by the rapid π phase change of the Stokes seed as well as that of the laser or polarization wave. Therefore, we have determined the phase of the spontaneous Raman solitons relative to the depleted pump pulse. Although, such changes of sign of the relative phase have already been observed in an earlier SRS experiment with hydrogen at high pressure, we did not detect any in our experiment. Therefore, we conclude that in this experiment the π phase change occurs in the Stokes or polarization wave.     

Raman echo under medium excitation by extremely short pulses

A generalization of the Bloembergen-Shen model to Raman active molecules with an arbitrary number of normal modes was suggested. The generalized model was used to study Raman echo signal characteristics when a system of molecules was excited by pulses of widths up to one period of optical oscillations. It was shown that a large number of echo responses on Stokes and anti-Stokes components could arise even under a two-pulse action in a continuous monochromatic pumping field. The number of echo responses depended on the number of molecular normal modes and the geometry of measurements. At small exciting pulse “areas,” the echo responses whose Stokes and anti-Stokes components corresponded to normal vibrational modes of a molecule had the highest intensity, whereas the components formed by normal mode combinations were strongly suppressed.     

Raman spectrum of graphene and graphene layers

Graphene is the two-dimensional building block for carbon allotropes of every other dimensionality. We show that its electronic structure is captured in its Raman spectrum that clearly evolves with the number of layers. The D peak second order changes in shape, width, and position for an increasing number of layers, reflecting the change in the electron bands via a double resonant Raman process. The G peak slightly down-shifts. This allows unambiguous, high-throughput, nondestructive identification of graphene layers, which is critically lacking in this emerging research area.     

石墨烯在强激光作用下改性的拉曼研究

采用化学气相沉积法制备了不同层数的石墨烯样品.根据石墨烯透过率曲线分析石墨烯样品层数与550 nm处透过率关系的同时,利用拉曼光谱法分析了不同层数石墨烯样品在强激光辐照下的损伤特性.结果表明:单层石墨烯样品经强激光辐照后,G带和2D带均向高频移动;多层石墨烯样品经强激光辐照后只有G带发生了略微的频移;石墨烯样品拉曼光谱G带与2D带强度比值表征了石墨烯的层数,此比值随激光辐照时间的增加而减小,这表明强激光对石墨烯样品具有明显的剥离现象.     

Dissipative plasmon‐solitons in multilayer graphene

Nonlinear properties of a multi‐layer stack of graphene sheets are studied. It is predicted that such a structure may support dissipative plasmon‐solitons generated and supported by an external laser radiation. Novel nonlinear equations describing spatial dynamics of the nonlinear plasmons driven by a plane wave in the Otto configuration are derived and the existence of single and multi‐hump dissipative solitons in the graphene structure is predicted.     

Cooling of atoms below the recoil energy under multizone Raman excitation

Cooling of atoms below the temperature determined by the recoil energy is proposed on the basis of the Raman excitation of three-level atoms by the field of standing waves with a relative spatial shift. The advantage of this cooling mechanism is a weak sensitivity to the shape and duration of light pulses used for the transfer of population under Raman excitation. It is shown that the effectiveness of such cooling increases sharply when multizone excitation is used and already several interaction zones are enough for deep transverse cooling of an atomic beam to a temperature significantly lower than the recoil energy.     

Stimulated Raman scattering in light and heavy water under picosecond laser excitation

The spectra of stimulated Raman scattering in ordinary and heavy water under excitation by second harmonic of a picosecond Nd:YAG laser were compared. It was shown that when stimulated Raman scattering is excited in water in cavities of a photonic crystal (synthetic opal matrix constructed of silica nanoglobules) or a photonic glass in the form of close-packed monodimensional millimeter-size amorphous-quartz balls, the efficiency of stimulated Raman scattering increases significantly compared to a uniform liquid medium.     

Coherent atomic-beam splitter under multizone Raman excitation in the field of standing waves

An efficient atomic-beam splitter on the basis of interaction of the wave packet of a three-level atom with the field of standing light waves having the relative spatial shift ? = π/2 is studied. It is shown that, when several zones of interaction with the field of optical radiation are used, a splitting equal to 2n?k(n is the number of zones of interaction) in each of the lower states of the three-level Λ atom can be reached.     

Vector dissipative solitons in graphene mode locked fiber lasers

Vector soliton operation of erbium-doped fiber lasers mode locked with atomic layer graphene was experimentally investigated. Either the polarization rotation or polarization locked vector dissipative solitons were experimentally obtained in a dispersion-managed cavity fiber laser with large net cavity dispersion, while in the anomalous dispersion cavity fiber laser, the phase locked nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) solitons and induced NLSE soliton were experimentally observed. The vector soliton operation of the fiber lasers unambiguously confirms the polarization insensitive saturable absorption of the atomic layer graphene when the light is incident perpendicular to its 2-dimentional (2D) atomic layer.     

Collisional redistribution of energy in the infrared spectrum of potassium vapor under two-photon excitation

The cascade decay of the 6S(4D) levels of the potassium atom, 6S(4D)-5P-5S(3D)-4P, following two-photon excitation of potassium vapor (4S-4P-6S) is investigated experimentally. The dependences of 11 resonant IR line intensities on potassium and buffer gas densities are presented. It is shown that the presence of buffer gas leads to collisional redistribution of radiation, causing suppression of some lines and production of new ones.     

Single-photon generation from stored excitation in an atomic ensemble

Single photons are generated from an ensemble of cold Cs atoms via the protocol of Duan et al. [Nature (London), ()]]. Conditioned upon an initial detection from field 1 at 852 nm, a photon in field 2 at 894 nm is produced in a controlled fashion from excitation stored within the atomic ensemble. The single-quantum character of field 2 is demonstrated by the violation of a Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, namely w(1(2),1(2)|1(1))=0.24+/-0.05 not > or = 1, where w(1(2),1(2)|1(1)) describes the detection of two events (1(2),1(2)) conditioned upon an initial detection 1(1), with w-->0 for single photons.     

Calculation of resonance Raman excitation profiles

The present work describes a novel mathematical scheme for the evaluation of multi-dimensional time domain integrals that arise in the calculation of resonance Raman excitation profiles and the optical absorption spectra when the electronic transitions take place between displaced, distorted, and rotated harmonic potential energy surfaces. A recipe is provided for formulating the time domain integrals in terms of a tractable summation of products involving hermite polynomials. Expressions for the special cases (displaced and/or distorted oscillators) are written in terms of mathematical special functions which are computationally easier to deal with. Relations with the so-called transform theory are discussed. Resonance Raman excitation profiles and the optical absorption spectrum for a 7-mode system are calculated as an illustration of our expressions.     

受激喇曼过程对光纤中基态孤立子传输的影响

用计算机模拟研究了在光纤中传输的基态孤立子由于喇曼自泵浦所造成的能量谱的变化.发现,对于脉宽窄于亚微微秒的孤立子,伴随自频移效应,能量谱会相应发生畸变和带宽变化.     

Electromagnetic solitons in a system of graphene planes with Anderson impurities

We consider the Maxwell equations for the electromagnetic-field propagation in a system of graphene planes with Anderson impurities. A phenomenological equation is obtained in the form of an analog of the classical 1 + 1-dimensional sine-Gordon equation. Electrons are considered within the quantum formalism taking into account the dispersion-law variations in the presence of an impurity subsystem. The phenomenological equation is analyzed numerically. It was found that the formation of a forbidden band in the graphene spectrum influenced the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses.     

超常介质中暗孤子的形成和传输特性研究

利用一种扩展的双曲函数级数方法求解超常介质中的传输方程，得到了各种不同情形下的暗孤子解，分析了可控自陡效应和二阶非线性色散效应对孤子形成和传输特性的影响.结果表明，超常介质中负的自陡效应使得暗孤子的中心位置随传输距离向脉冲前沿方向漂移，与常规介质中自陡效应(恒为正)的作用相反；特别是，由于二阶非线性色散的作用，使得在没有线性群速度色散的情形下同样可形成孤子，而且在反常线性色散情形也可形成暗孤子.