Polarization evolution of a few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse propagating in a degenerate three-level medium

Journal Article · Sat Sep 15 00:00:00 EDT 2007 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.76.033827· OSTI ID:21020597

Xiaohong, Song; Weifeng, Yang; Shangqing, Gong; Ruxin, Li; Zhizhan, Xu ^[1]

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1. State Key Laboratory of High Field Laser Physics, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China)

The propagation of an arbitrary polarized few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse in a degenerate three-level medium is investigated by using an iterative predictor-corrector finite-difference time-domain method. It is found that the polarization evolution of the ultrashort laser pulse is dependent not only on the initial atomic coherence of the medium but also on the polarization condition of the incident laser pulse. When the initial effective area is equal to 2{pi}, complete linear-to-circular and circular-to-linear polarization conversion of few-cycle ultrashort laser pulses can be achieved due to the quantum interference effects between the two different transition paths.

• OSTI ID: 21020597
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 76, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.76.033827; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
CONVERSION
EVOLUTION
INTERFERENCE
ITERATIVE METHODS
LASER RADIATION
LIGHT TRANSMISSION
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
POLARIZATION
PULSES
VELOCITY
WAVE PROPAGATION