Strong Control Field Research Articles

Dual-Color Magic-Wavelength Trap for Suppression of Light Shifts in Atoms

We present an optical approach to compensating for spatially varying ac-Stark shifts that appear on atomic ensembles subject to strong optical control or trapping fields. The introduction of an additional weak light field produces an intentional perturbation between atomic states that is tuned to suppress the influence of the strong field. The compensation field suppresses sensitivity in one of the transition frequencies of the trapped atoms to both the atomic distribution and motion. We demonstrate this technique in a cold rubidium ensemble and show a reduction in inhomogeneous broadening in the trap. This two-colour approach emulates the magic trapping approach that is used in modern atomic lattice clocks but provides greater flexibility in choice of atomic species, probe transition, and trap wavelength.

Magnetically controllable slow light based on magnetostrictive forces.

The magnetostrictive effect provides an opportunity for exploring fundamental phenomena related to the phonon-magnon interaction. Here we show a tunable slow light in a cavity magnetomechanical system consisting of photon, magnon and phonon modes with a nonlinear phonon-magnon interaction, which originates from magnetostrictive forces. For a strong photon-magnon coupling strength, we can observe a transparency (absorption) window for the probe by placing a strong control field on the red (blue) detuned sideband of the hybridized modes, which are comprised of photons and magnons. In this work, we mainly show the characteristic changes in dispersion in the range of the transparency window. The value of group delay can be continuously adjusted by using different frequencies of magnon, which are determined by the external bias magnetic field and therefore can be conveniently tuned in a broad range. Both the intensity and the frequency of the control field have an influence on the transformation from subluminal to superluminal propagation and vice versa. Furthermore, one may achieve long-lived slow light (group delay of millisecond order) by enlarging the pump power. These results may find applications in information interconversion based on coherent coupling among photons, phonons and magnons.

Optical switching phenomenon in ladder type atomic system under varying wavelength mismatching effect with one due to a Rydberg transition

Abstract We present a theoretical study on probe field propagation through a three-level Ξ type system formed in an atomic vapour medium in presence of a strong control field. The model is based on density matrix method and is solved analytically, without neglecting any term in any power of probe and control Rabi frequencies, to find out the probe response under Doppler free condition as well as at room temperature. The probe response for a four-level Ξ type system is also determined analytically. Electromagnetically induced transparency is formed in the simulated probe response for both the level schemes. We also present the switching of probe field propagation from subluminal to superluminal as a function of probe detuning for different control transitions, one of which is to a Rydberg state. The switching window becomes asymmetric under detuned control field with the asymmetry depending on the wavelength mismatching factor between the control field and the probe field. Under strong probe regime probe propagation switches from superluminal to subluminal on resonance when the wavelength mismatch between the probe and the control field is increased, an effect which can be explained with the help of the analytical model that is free from any perturbative treatment.

Tunable slow and fast light in parity-time-symmetric optomechanical systems with phonon pump.

We study the response of parity-time (PT)-symmetric optomechanical systems with tunable gain and loss to the weak probe field in the presence of a strong control field and a coherent phonon pump. We show that the probe transmission can exceed unity at low control power due to the optical gain of the cavity and it can be further enhanced or suppressed by tuning the amplitude and phase of the phonon pump. Furthermore, the phase dispersion of the transmitted probe field is modified by controlling the applied fields, which allows one to tune the group delay of the probe field. Based on this optomechianical system, we can realize a tunable switch between slow and fast light effect by adjusting the gain-to-loss ratio, power of the control field as well as the amplitude and phase of the phonon pump. Our work provides a platform to control the light propagation in a more flexible way.

The effect of oscillator and dipole-dipole interaction on multiple optomechanically induced transparency in cavity optomechanical system

We theoretically investigate the optomechanically induced transparency (OMIT) phenomenon in a N-cavity optomechanical system doped with a pair of Rydberg atoms with the presence of a strong control field and a weak probe field applied to the Nth cavity. It is found that 2N − 1 (N < 10) numbers of OMIT windows can be observed in the output field when N cavities couple with N mechanical oscillators and the mechanical oscillators coupled with different even- or odd-labelled cavities can lead to diverse effects on OMIT. Furthermore, the ATS effect appears with the increase of the effective optomechanical coupling rate. On the other hand, two additional transparent windows (extra resonances) occur, when two Rydberg atoms are coupled with the cavity field. With DDI strength increasing, the extra resonances move to the far off-resonant regime but the left one moves slowly than the right one due to the positive detuning effect of DDI. During this process, Fano resonance also emerges in the absorption profile of output field.

Fundamentals and applications of optomechanically induced transparency

Cavity optomechanical systems have been shown to exhibit an analogon to atomic electromagnetically induced transparency that a transmission window for the propagation of the probe field is induced by a strong control field when the resonance condition is met. Sharp transmission features controlled by the control laser beam enable many applications ranging from force sensors to quantum communication. In recent years, there has been significant progress in both theoretical and experimental studies of this phenomenon, driven by the development of nanophotonics as well as the improvement of nano-fabrication techniques. Optomechanically induced transparency has been found to manifest in numerous different physical mechanisms, e.g., nonlinear optomechanically induced transparency, double optomechanically induced transparency, parity-time symmetric optomechanically induced transparency, and optomechanically induced transparency in various hybrid optomechanical systems, etc. These results offer a pathway towards an integrated quantum optomechanical memory, show the utility of these chip-scale optomechanical systems for optical buffering, amplification, and filtering of microwave-over-optical signals, and may be applicable to modern optical networks and future quantum networks. Here, we systematically review the latest research progress on the fundamentals and applications of optomechanically induced transparency. Perspectives and opportunities on future developments are also provided by focusing on several promising topics.

Giant Self-Kerr Nonlinearity in the Metal Nanoparticles-Graphene Nanodisks-Quantum Dots Hybrid Systems Under Low-Intensity Light Irradiance.

Hybrid nanocomposites can provide a promising platform for integrated optics. Optical nonlinearity can significantly widen the range of applications of such structures. In the present paper, a theoretical investigation is carried out by solving the density matrix equations derived for a metal nanoparticles-graphene nanodisks-quantum dots hybrid system interacting with weak probe and strong control fields, in the steady state. We derive analytical expressions for linear and third-order nonlinear susceptibilities of the probe field. A giant self-Kerr nonlinear index of refraction is obtained in the optical region with relatively low light intensity. The optical absorption spectrum of the system demonstrates electromagnetically induced transparency and amplification without population inversion in the linear optical response arising from the negative real part of the polarizabilities for the plasmonic components at the energy of the localized surface plasmon resonance of the graphene nanodisks induced by the probe field. We find that the self-Kerr nonlinear optical properties of the system can be controlled by the geometrical features of the system, the size of metal nanoparticles and the strength of the control field. The controllable self-Kerr nonlinearities of hybrid nanocomposites can be employed in many interesting applications of modern integrated optics devices allowing for high nonlinearity with relatively low light intensity.

Optomechanical resonator as a negative dispersion medium for enhancing the sensitivity bandwidth in a gravitational-wave detector

Recently, we had proposed an optically-pumped five-level Gain EIT (GEIT) system, which has a transparency dip superimposed on a gain profile and exhibits a negative dispersion suitable for the white light cavity (WLC) enhanced interferometric gravitational wave detector [Phys. Rev. D. 92, 082002 (2015)]. Using this system as the negative dispersion medium (NDM) in the WLC-SR (signal recycling) scheme, we get an enhancement in the quantum noise (QN) limited sensitivity-bandwidth product by a factor of ~18. We have also shown how to realize such a system in practice using Zeeman sublevels in $^{87}$Rb at 795nm [Opt. Commun. 402, 382-388 (2017)]. However, aLIGO operates at 1064nm and suitable transitions in Rb or other alkali atoms are not available at this wavelength. Therefore, it is necessary to consider a system that is consistent with the operating wavelength of aLIGO. Here, we present the realization of such an NDM at 1064nm with a microresonator, which supports optomechanical interaction. A strong control field is applied at a higher frequency, and, under certain conditions, a probe field at a lower frequency experiences a peak at the center of an absorption profile, and a negative dispersion in the transmission. Unlike in the GEIT case, we use the compound-cavity signal-recycling (CC-SR) scheme, where an auxiliary mirror is inserted in the dark port of the detector, and show that the enhancement factor can be as high as ~15. However, using the parameters required for the sensitivity enhancement, the optomechanical system enters an instability region where the control field is depleted. We present an observer based feedback control process used to stabilize the CC-SR system.

Controllable coherent perfect absorption and transmission in a generalized three-mode optomechanical system

We present a generalized three-mode cavity optomechanical system, where two cavity modes with strong control fields and weak signal fields are coupled to a common mechanical resonator. We find that the weak input signal fields will be entirely absorbed by the system without generating any energy output from each of the cavity modes termed coherent perfect absorption (CPA), and the two cavity modes and mechanical mode will share the input probe fields energy when CPA occurs under parameter regimes. With changing the parameter conditions, a weak input signal field will transmit from one cavity to the other cavity without undergoing any energy loss termed coherent perfect transmission (CPT). Moreover, the above phenomena are dependent on the coupling strength between the two cavity modes in this optomechanical systems. The origin and conditions that enable these phenomena to achieve are analyzed, and potential applications in quantum information may be realized in all-optical domain based on such phenomena.

Optical-response properties in hybrid optomechanical systems with quadratic coupling

We theoretically investigate the optical-response properties of the four-mode quadratically coupled optomechanical system (OMS), in which two standard OMSs with quadratic coupling are coupled to each other via a common waveguide. In the presence of a strong control field applied to one cavity and a weak probe field applied to the other, we show that by suitably tuning the system parameters, there appears the normal mode splitting, optomechanically induced absorption, and double or triple electromagnetically induced transparency phenomena in the probe absorption spectrum. In particular, the explicit physical explanations for those fantastic phenomena are detailed discussed. Moreover, we also show that our proposal can be exploited to implement the optical switch as well as the slow and fast light effects.

Kerr-effect analysis in a three-level negative index material under magneto cross-coupling

We discuss the feasibility of the Kerr effect in negative refractive index materials under magneto cross-coupling and reservoir interaction. The considered medium is a typical three-level atomic system where we derive both the refractive and the gain spectrum. The profiles are analyzed for a weak probe field, and for varying strengths of the strong control field. The considered scheme shows an enhancement of the Kerr nonlinearity which we attribute to the contribution of the electromagnetic components of the fields. For more realistic experimental conditions, we discuss the dependence of the Kerr effect on different thermal bath coupling constants.

Cavity electromagnetically induced transparency with Rydberg atoms

Cavity electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is revisited via the input probe field intensity. A strongly interacting Rydberg atomic medium ensemble is considered in a cavity, where atoms behave as superatoms (SAs) under the dipole blockade mechanism. Each atom in the strongly interacting Rydberg atomic medium (Rb) follows a three-level cascade atomic configuration. A strong control and weak probe field are employed in the cavity with the ensemble of Rydberg atoms. The features of the reflected and transmitted probe light are studied under the influence of the input probe field intensity. A transparency peak (cavity EIT) is revealed at a resonance condition for small values of input probe field intensity. The manipulation of the cavity EIT is reported by tuning the strength of the input probe field intensity. Further, the phase and group delay of the transmitted and reflected probe light are studied. It is found that group delay and phase in the reflected light are negative, while for the transmitted light they are positive. The magnitude control of group delay in the transmitted and reflected light is investigated via the input probe field intensity.

Quadrature squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum in cavity optomechanics.

We propose an efficient scheme to generate quadrature squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum in an optomechanical system. This is achieved by exploiting a well-established optomechanical circumstance, where a second-order nonlinearity is embedded into the optomechanical cavity driven by a strong control field and a weak probe pulse. Using experimentally achievable parameters, we demonstrate that the second-order nonlinearity intensity and the frequency detuning of a control field allow us to modify the amplitude of higher-order sidebands and improve the amount of squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum. Furthermore, in the presence of a strong second-order nonlinearity, an optimizing quadrature squeezing of a higher-order sideband spectrum can be achieved, which provides a practical opportunity to design the squeezed frequency combs and other precision measurements.

Tunable two-phonon higher-order sideband amplification in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system

We propose an efficient scheme for the controllable amplification of two-phonon higher-order sidebands in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system. In this scheme, a strong control field and a weak probe pulse are injected into the cavity, and the membrane located at the middle position of the cavity is driven resonantly by a weak coherent mechanical pump. Beyond the conventional linearized approximation, we derive analytical expressions for the output transmission of probe pulse and the amplitude of second-order sideband by adding the nonlinear coefficients into the Heisenberg-Langevin formalism. Using experimentally achievable parameters, we identify the conditions under which the mechanical pump and the frequency detuning of control field allow us to modify the transmission of probe pulse and improve the amplitude of two-phonon higher-order sideband generation beyond what is achievable in absence of the mechanical pump. Furthermore, we also find that the higher-order sideband generation depends sensitively on the phase of mechanical pump when the control field becomes strong. The present proposal offers a practical opportunity to design chip-scale optical communications and optical frequency combs.

Non-stationary and relaxation phenomena in cavity-assisted quantum memories

We investigate the non-stationary and relaxation phenomena in cavity-assisted quantum memories for light. As a storage medium we consider an ensemble of cold atoms with standard Lambda-scheme of working levels. Some theoretical aspects of the problem were treated previously by many authors, and recent experiments stimulate more deep insight into the ultimate ability and limitations of the device. Since quantum memories can be used not only for the storage of quantum information, but also for a substantial manipulation of ensembles of quantum states, the speed of such manipulation and hence the ability to write and retrieve the signals of relatively short duration becomes important. In our research we do not apply the so-called bad cavity limit, and consider the memory operation of the signals whose duration is not much larger than the cavity field lifetime, accounting also for the finite lifetime of atomic coherence. In our paper we present an effective approach that makes it possible to find the non-stationary amplitude and phase behavior of strong classical control field, that matches the desirable time profile of both the envelope and the phase of the retrieved quantized signal. The phase properties of the retrieved quantized signals are of importance for the detection and manipulation of squeezing, entanglement, etc by means of optical mixing and homodyning.

Fano resonance and slow light in hybrid optomechanics mediated by a two-level system

We study the Fano resonance and slow light in a hybrid optomechanical system, where a mechanical resonator is coupled to a cavity via radiation pressure and to a two-level system (qubit) via the Jaynes-Cummings coupling. The absorption spectra of the weak probe field can exhibit a series of asymmetric Fano line shapes when the frequency of the strong control field varies. The positions of the double Fano resonances can be determined by the cavity--control-field detuning, the qubit-resonator coupling strength, and the transition frequency of the qubit. Furthermore, the transparency windows in the probe transmission spectrum are accompanied by the rapid normal phase dispersion, which indicates the slow light effect. We find that the group delay of the transmitted probe field can be tuned by the frequency and amplitude of the control field and is inversely proportional to the decay rate of the qubit.

Study on probe field propagation in the presence of control and coupling fields through a four-level N-type atomic system

The absorption features of a probe field propagating through a four-level N-type atomic system in the presence of two coherent radiation fields is studied analytically by using a density matrix formulation. The system has two ground levels and two excited levels. A weak probe laser couples the upper ground level to the lower excited level whereas a strong control field connects the lower ground level to the lower excited level. The coupling field acts between the upper ground level and the upper excited level. The transition parameters of the 87Rb D1 line have been used to simulate the probe response. The simulated probe absorption shows a gain-like structure depending on the relative field intensities. The spectral features of the probe response exhibit substantial differences under thermal averaging as compared to a Doppler-free condition. The splitting of simulated probe absorption can be explained by the dressed state model. Electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) is observed in the simulated probe response curve when the spontaneous decay of the population from the uppermost excited state to the lower ground state is absent.

Optical bistability and four-wave mixing in a hybrid optomechanical system

We explore theoretically the optical bistability and four-wave mixing (FWM) in a hybrid optomechanical system, where the mechanical resonator is simultaneously coupled to a cavity field and a two-level system (qubit). We can use a strong control field driving the cavity to control the bistable behavior of the steady-state photon number, phonon number, and the population inversion. The impact of qubit-resonator coupling strength on the bistable behavior is discussed. Furthermore, the two-level system can significantly modify the output fields of the cavity, leading to double optomechanically induced transparency (OMIT) and the enhancement of the FWM intensity. We find that the distance between the two peaks in the FWM spectrum can be controlled by the qubit-resonator coupling strength, and the peak value of the FWM intensity can be adjusted by the Rabi frequency of the control field.

Localization of light in induced triangular photonic lattices with defects

In this paper, the electromagnetically induced lattice with defect is proposed with the destructive quantum interference. The ensemble of the four-level N type cold atoms is considered to follow the spatial modulation where the strong control field is employed with the spatial light modulator (SLM). Due to the flexible controllability, the variable positions of the defect, as well as the localization of the signal field can be realized and effectively manipulated. Additionally, the propagation properties of signal light in multi-defects are also discussed in this work.

Attosecond counter-rotating-wave effect in xenon driven by strong fields

We investigate the subfemtosecond dynamics of a highly excited xenon atom coherently driven by a strong control field at which the Rabi frequency of the system is comparable to the frequency of a driving laser. The widely used rotating-wave approximation breaks down at such fields, resulting in features such as the counter-rotating-wave (CRW) effect. We present a time-resolved observation of the CRW effect in the highly excited $4{d}^{\ensuremath{-}1}np$ xenon using attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Time-dependent many-body theory confirms the observation and explains the various features of the absorption spectrum seen in experiment.