Abstract
The angular momentum character of atom-radiation interactions has important consequences in optical bistability. A spinning atom may have an asymmetric response to the two spin components (σ+ and σ−) of a radiation field, and in a cavity this gives rise to the possibility of selective switching of the two field components. For a situation in which both the input field and the initial atom reponse are symmetric with respect to σ+ and σ−, asymmetric output is possible if a (fluctuation generated) imbalance between the two cavity modes can be enhanced. Longitudinal (population) optical pumping can provide a suitable mechanism for enhancing imbalance in that a stronger (say) σ+ field transfers population to the σ− transition thereby increasing σ− absorption. This has been demonstrated to produce polarization switching in a J=1/2 → J=1/2 transition [1] as well as in other model transitions (e.g.[2,3]). However optical pumping may have more complex manifestations, and here we study the case of a medium of Jlower=1 → Jupper =0 atoms, where a superposition of σ+ and σ− fields may generate transverse optical pumping (a quadrupole Zeeman coherence ρ 22 (l) in the lower level) which opposes the effect of longitudinal optical pumping. The transverse pumping may be diminished by a steady longitudinal magnetic field, which thus provides a convenient means of controlling the system’s ability to produce asymmetric output.KeywordsPolarization SwitchingOptical BistabilityInput FieldDispersive RegimeMagnetic ControlThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Published Version
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