Interaction of atomic wave packets with four-wave mixing: detection of rubidium and potassium wave packets by coherent ultraviolet emission
- Everitt Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)
The observation of an atomic wave packet by use of a coherent, nonlinear-optical process is reported. Wave packets formed in K or Rb vapor by two-photon excitation of ns and (n{minus}2)d states (n=8 for K; n=11 , 12 for Rb) with red ({approximately}620{minus}nm) , 80{endash}100-fs pulses were detected by four-wave mixing in pump-probe experiments. The temporal behavior of the wave packet is observed by monitoring the coherent UV radiation generated near the alkali mp {sup 2}P {r_arrow} {sup 2}S{sub 1/2} (7{le}m{le}12 for Rb; 5{le}m{le}7 for K) resonance transitions when a probe pulse is scattered by the wave packet established by the earlier (identical) pump pulse. The spatial and spectral characteristics of the UV emission are well described by axially phase-matched four-wave mixing, and all the prominent frequency components of the wave packets are associated with energy differences between pairs of excited states for which {Delta}l=0 or {Delta}l=2 . These results demonstrate that the wave packet modulates {chi}{sup (3)} of the medium, thus rendering the wave packet detectable. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital Optical Society of America}
- OSTI ID:
- 573772
- Journal Information:
- Optics Letters, Vol. 23, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Photoassociation of atoms in ultracold collisions probed by wave-packet dynamics
Kr (n=5-10,s,d,g) electronic wave packets: Electron time-of-flight resolution and the ac-Stark shift during wave-packet preparation