Abstract
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 and states ( for K; , for Rb) with red , 80–100-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 ( for Rb; 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 or . These results demonstrate that the wave packet modulates of the medium, thus rendering the wave packet detectable.
© 1998 Optical Society of America
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