Alexander Lvovsky, Sven Hartmann
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The experiment was devoted to transient diffraction emissions that appeared in the following configuration. A transient grating was induced at t = 0 in an optically thin Cs vapor sample using two simultaneous, slightly noncollinear laser pulses resonant with the fundamental 6S1/2 - 6P1/2 transition, followed by a third resonant excitation pulse at t = t. This excitation results in emission of fan-shaped arrays of coherent pulses, centered at t = 0, t = t and t = 2t and governed by higher order diffraction effects, as well as inhomogeneous dephasing and rephasing. We have shown that each fan component is characterized by a complex modulation and polarization pattern that is different from other components and is determined by the atomic Hamiltonian, thus demonstrating the potential of this technique as a spectroscopic tool. This work has been preceded by [1] (1996) where modulation of conventional two-pulse photon echo in cesium has been studied in detail.
1. A. I. Lvovsky and S. R. Hartmann, Laser Physics 6, 535-543 (1996)