Direct observation of coherent medium response under the condition of two-photon excitation of krypton by femtosecond UV-laser pulses

Probing electronic coherences by combined two- and one-photon excitation in atomic vapors

Wave mixing in a three-level quantum system induced by two-photon resonant pump and one-photon resonant coupling at lower transition has been studied theoretically and experimentally. Resonantly enhanced difference-frequency generation efficiency was observed clearly dependent on the time delay and its sign between the femtosecond pump and probe. The role of the atomic coherences on the amplification without inversion during different sequences of interaction in a closed three-level system has been also stressed. These findings were confirmed experimentally in atomic potassium, where strong parametric amplification, induced by the pump delayed with respect to the probe, has been observed for the first time.

Femtosecond interferometry of molecular dynamics – the role of relative and absolute phase of two individual laser pulses

Dynamical implications of the dissociation of a molecular ion under the influence of interferometrically generated light fields have been investigated by numerical solution of time dependent Schrödinger equations. As an example the dissociation of DCl+ ions by means of two interfering 7 fs laser pulses at 800 nm has been chosen. We demonstrate that product branching ratios D+:Cl+ can be manipulated from 10:1 to 1:10 not only by adjusting the appropriate delay time in the time-shifted two-pulse approach, but also by choosing the proper carrier envelope phase (CEP) of the two partial light fields. The effects of the phase shift related to the time shift and that of the CEP can be clearly distinguished.

Electromagnetically induced quantum memory

We discuss the problem of creating coherence in an optically driven quantum system in conditions where decoherence is caused by the laser field itself, due to coupling of the system to a rapidly decaying state or continuum. It is shown that by applying an additional laser field between this state and a bound state the relaxation channel can be suppressed as a result of a "dark state" formation, giving rise to long living Rabi oscillations in the system. It is found that the same mechanism of preserving coherence exists in systems with level splitting or degeneracy, where the driving field interacts with multiple resonant sublevels simultaneously. We also show that specific coherent propagation phenomena assisted by the interference suppression of decoherence can be observed under these conditions.