Raman amplification of ultrashort light pulses in inhomogeneously broadened three-level systems

Abstract

In the limit of pulse durations that are shorter than the characteristic times of atomic decays, the dynamics of the propagation of a probe light pulse under the action of a driving pulse in the form of a self-induced transparency soliton applied to the adjacent transition of the V-scheme is considered. For a three-level absorber, it is shown that, in the absence of two-photon inhomogeneous broadening, the effect of soliton-induced transparency (SOIT) for the probe field takes place, which consists of the probe pulse undergoing forced localization by the driving pulse and propagates further without a change in the energy or shape. This type of transparency has no threshold with respect to both the energy and the area and is observed for arbitrarily weak pulses. The SOIT effect disappears in the presence of a two-photon inhomogeneous broad-ening. The effect of Raman amplification in a three-level amplifier with the Raman population inversion is considered. It is demonstrated that, under the action of the two-photon inhomogeneous broadening, the effect of Raman amplification becomes a threshold effect. The broader the two-photon inhomogeneous contour, the larger the Raman inversion required to initiate generation.