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Phase control reduction of four-wavemixing in induced waveguiding scheme
D. Borrman-Arbiv,A. D. Wilson-Gordon and H. Friedmann Department of Chemistry, Bar-llan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel Tel: -972-3-5318313, Fax: -972-3-535 1250, E-mail:
[email protected] We investigate the waveguiding i n d d in a weak probe propagating in a medium of two-level atoms driven by a copropagating, intense, strongly detuned pump. We show that when the transvene profile of the pump exhibits solitonlike oscillations, similar oscillations can be induced in the transverse profile of the probe [l]. The pump acts as a spatial soliton in the sense that its transverse intensity profile displays oscillating spatial behavior due lo the interplay of self-focusing and diffraction. When the probe waist size is initially narrower than that of the pump, the probe adjusts its width, &er a short propagation distance, to that of the pump. It is found that the weak beam, which is created during propagation by four-wave mixing, has a significant effcct on thc waveguiding of the probe. Athough the waveguide effect is essentially unlimited when the effect of four-wave mixing is ignored, it becomes severely limited when the medium is optically thick and the effect of four-wave mixing bewmes dominant [I]. However, it is possible to reduce the effect of four-wave mixing by phase wntrol. By controlling the relative phases of the pump and probe lasers, bath absorptive and dispersive properties may bc manipulatcd. With a proper mechanism of phase control and appropriate phase correction scheme, the w d four-wave mixing wave can be ean forced to r m i small during most of the propagation distance through the medium, so that the waveguiding effect can be clearly discerned. This work suggests that the imporlance of four-wave mixing in modifying induced waveguiding should be considered in other waveguiding schemes. The potential of phase wntrol in manipulating the properlies of propagating laser light in a sophisticated way is emphasized.
Effect of propagation on pulsed four-wave mixing
P. Weisman, A. D. Wilson-Gordon and H. Friedmann DepaNnent of Chemistry, Bar-llan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel Tel: -972-3-53 18313, Fax: -972-3-5351250, E-mail: go&
[email protected]It is well-known that the steady-state four-wave mixing (FWM) spectrum, obtained when a two-level atomic system interacts with a coherent pump of arbitrary intensity and a weilk probe, is symmetrical and consists of three peaks: a central peak and two Rabi sidcbands. Previously, we showed [I], for tempnrally nonoverlapping pulses, that the specmm bewmes extremely asymmetrical and that only the Rabi sideband near the resonance frequency survives, in the case where the probe precedes the pump. For the oppnsitc case, where the pump precedes the probe, no FWM spec is obtained at all. It should be noted that these u e results hold h provided the pump and probe pulses are much shorter than the transverse relaxation time T, and the pump-probe time delay AI0 (Ato < 0 when the pmbe precedes the pump). We have also shown [l] that T, can be determined from the slope of the semilog plot of the FWM intensity, near the resonance sidehand, versus thc pump-probe time delay Aio (for the case Bloc 0). We now study [2] the effect of propagation on the FWM spec! for moderately long optical pathlength To this end, we solve the Milxwcll-Bloch equations numerically far an arbitrarily intense pump pulse and a w d probe. Previous studies of the effect of propagation on FWM in a two-level atomic medium referred to degeneratc FWM and were limited to weak pump pulses. We will show that as propagation proceeds, the semilog plot of the FWM intensity versus Ala (for the ~ a AIO e 0) which is initially linear, begins to deviate fmm ~ linearity and may even change the sign of its slope for a range of values of AIO This occurs for both weak ad stmng pumps and is due to the behaviour of the overlap of the pump n envelope with the wherent response of the medium to the probe. both of which are modified on propagation. In addition, the FWM signal which is negligible for Afo > 0 compared to AI0 < 0, in the absence of propagation, becomes comparable to it when propagation is taken into accaunt.
[I] A.
[I1 D. Boaman, A. D. Wilson-Gordon,and H. F r i e d , Phys. Rev. A (in press).
D.Wilson-GordonandH. Friedmm, I. Phys. Chem. A
[Z]P. Weisman, A. D. Wilson-Gordon, and H. Fried
102,9651 (1998). Phys. Rev. A (in press).
0-7803-6318-31001510 . ~ 0 0 IEEE 0
