Controllable interaction of counterpropagating solitons in three-level media

Journal Article · Sun Aug 15 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.023805· OSTI ID:21448569

Pusch, Andreas; Hamm, Joachim M; Hess, Ortwin ^[1]

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1. Advanced Technology Institute and Department of Physics, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH (United Kingdom)

We examine the dynamics of counterpropagating self-induced transparency solitons in three-level media. In a multilevel system, self-induced transparency gives rise to soliton solutions if the propagation is unidirectional, but the collision of counterpropagating pulses destroys the integrability of the underlying equations. We consider the collision of a rightward and a leftward moving self-induced transparency solitary wave by solving the full Maxwell-Bloch equations numerically using a finite-difference time-domain approach. Depending on pulse duration, amplitude and relative polarizations of the initial solitary waves we observe different regimes of interaction. For high group velocities and orthogonal polarizations, secondary solitary waves are born during the interaction, whereas the collision of solitary waves with the same polarization never produces secondary solitary waves but leaves behind a population grating in the interaction region. Because the crucial parameters can be controlled, an experimental confirmation of the predicted interaction regimes should be feasible.

• OSTI ID: 21448569
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 82; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
AMPLITUDES
BLOCH EQUATIONS
COLLISIONS
ENERGY LEVELS
EQUATIONS
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
OPACITY
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLARIZATION
PULSES
QUASI PARTICLES
SOLITONS
WAVE PROPAGATION