PARAMETRIC PULSE BREAKUP DUE TO POPULATION PULSATIONS IN 3-LEVEL SYSTEMS
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This paper presents the results of a numerical calculation of laser pulse propagation in a vapor of three-level atoms. The calculation is semi-classical in that the macroscopic electric fields are determined classically using Maxwell's equations, while the microscopic polarization is determined quantum mechanically using Schrodinger's equation. The pump laser field is tuned nearly resonant with the first atomic transition of the three-level folded-ladder system. It has previously been shown that in a three-level vapor in which the dipole coupling of the second transition is sufficiently smaller than the dipole coupling of the first transition, the dynamics of the laser-matter interaction are dominated by self-action effects of the pump pulse. This calculation shows dramatically different propagation effects when the second transition dipole moment is greater than the first transition. The larger dipole moment allows the final state to compete with the ground state for population that is pumped into the intermediate state by the pump pulse. This enhances the Stokes gain and increases the Raman efficiency while hindering the processes that produce self-induced transparency and other self-action effects. The periodic fluctuations of the intermediate state population leads to the parametric breakup of the electric fields.
