Abstract
Due to the availability of high power, single-mode laser sources, it is now possible to study coherent interactions of light with atoms and molecules via multi-photon processes. Here, we will describe the first experimental observation of transient two-photon coherent precession — one of the many possible two-photon analogs of well known one-photon coherent effects which have been predicted by the two-photon vector model of Grischkowsky, Loy and Liao. In terms of this vector model, the process can be visualized in a way similar to its familiar one-photon analog: the two-photon polarization vector precesses about the effective field and, depending on their relative phases, induces alternating absorption and emission of light. There are, in addition, features unique to the two-photon case, for example, the optical Stark effects and the Doppler width reduction from counter-propagating beams are shown to be of crucial importance in the experiment.
Work partially supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
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© 1978 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Loy, M.M.T. (1978). Transient Two-Photon Coherent Effects. In: Mandel, L., Wolf, E. (eds) Coherence and Quantum Optics IV. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0665-9_40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0665-9_40
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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