Method and apparatus for nonlinear frequency generation using a strongly-driven local oscillator
US5771117A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 17, 1996 |
| Grant date | Jun 23, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 17, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/39
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Efficient nonlinear processes in a nonlinear optical medium are achieved by combining the concept of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and a strongly-driven atomic local oscillator. The present method uses a nonlinear optical medium having elementary entities, such as atoms or molecules, in which a ground state .vertline.1> and a second state .vertline.2> are selected such that the transition between the ground state .vertline.1> and the second state .vertline.2> is a dipole forbidden transition. An upper state .vertline.3> selected from among the energy states .vertline.i> above the ground state .vertline.1> such that a two-photon transition between the ground state .vertline.1> and the second state .vertline.2> via the upper state .vertline.3> is allowed. A strongly-driven coherent superposition state which gives rise to the strongly-driven local oscillator is produced by applying two pumping beams, P1 and P2, at frequencies corresponding to transitions between states .vertline.2> and .vertline.3> and between states .vertline.1> and .vertline.3>. The nonlinear optical medium prepared in this way is used for efficient sum-and-difference and parametric generation in .L…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.