The theory of temporal compression of intense laser pulses in a metal vapor

Author

Shaw, Michael J. ; Crane, John K.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Appl. Sci., California Univ., Davis, CA, USA

Volume

28

Issue

4

fYear

1992

fDate

4/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

921

Lastpage

929

Abstract

Numerical simulations of the compression of laser pulses by propagation through a medium of two-level near resonant atoms is presented. The compression of long pulses (>10 ns) whose peak Rabi frequency is comparable to the laser detuning from the atomic transition is addressed. This regime is one in which an accurate description of the physics requires solution of the Maxwell-Bloch equations. A model to investigate nonlinear effects on the compression process has been developed. The analysis begins with a study of the compression of optimally chirped pulses of various fluences. The onset of the nonlinear effects and their ramifications on the compression process are addressed

Keywords

laser beams; metals; nonlinear optics; Maxwell-Bloch equations; atomic transition; intense laser pulses; laser detuning; metal vapor; nonlinear effects; numerical simulations; optimally chirped pulses; peak Rabi frequency; propagation; temporal compression; two-level near resonant atoms; Atom lasers; Atomic beams; Frequency; Laser theory; Laser transitions; Numerical simulation; Optical propagation; Optical pulses; Pulse compression methods; Resonance;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.135210

Filename

135210