Propagation of ultrashort pulses in multilevel systems under electromagnetically induced transparency

Journal Article · Mon May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2006 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.73.0· OSTI ID:20787315

Araujo, Luis E. E. de ^[1]

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1. Instituto de Fisica 'Gleb Wataghin', Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Sao Paulo 13083-970 (Brazil)

In this paper, I numerically investigate the propagation of ultrashort pulses through an extended collection of multilevel systems under the condition of electromagnetically induced transparency. The transparency of a weak probe pulse is induced by a much stronger coupling pulse. In the limit of a weak probe excitation and a large number of excited states, I show that the free-induction decay signal that would naturally follow the excitation pulse is strongly suppressed, and the envelope of the probe pulse suffers a distortion in its temporal profile as the pulse propagates into the medium. This distortion is characterized by a stronger absorption of the leading edge of the pulse than that of its trailing edge. The temporal phase of the pulse, however, remains constant throughout propagation.

• OSTI ID: 20787315
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 73; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ABSORPTION
DECAY
EXCITATION
EXCITED STATES
OPACITY
OPTICS
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
PULSES
QUANTUM MECHANICS