Abstract

Recently the propagation of optical pulse pairs through a medium of Λ-type atoms has been theoretically discussed in connection with electromagnetically induced transparency.^1-3 The interaction of a three-level atom in lambda configuration with two strong resonant laser fields drives the atom into a superposition of the two lower levels, which is decoupled from the fields. The population is trapped in this state and the otherwise optically thick medium becomes transparent. Since the trapping state involves the relative amplitude and phase of the fields, oscillations of these quantities fast compared to the atomic response do couple to the trapping state and are absorbed. Eventually fields with matched high-frequency Fourier components are generated.¹ Associated with the correlation of Fourier components is a reduction of quantum fluctuations of the relative amplitude and phase.^3,4

© 1994 IEEE