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Coherent quantum control of two-photon transitions by a femtosecond laser pulse

Nature volume 396, pages 239–242 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Coherent quantum control1,2,3 has attracted interest as a means to influence the outcome of a quantum-mechanical interaction. In principle, the quantum system can be steered towards a desired state by its interaction with light. For example, in photoinduced transitions between atomic energy levels, quantum interference effects can lead to enhancement or cancellation of the total transition probability. The interference depends on the spectral phase distribution of the incident beam; as this phase distribution can be tuned, the outcome of the interaction can in principle be controlled. Here we demonstrate that a femtosecond laser pulse can be tailored, using ultrashort pulse-shaping4,5,6,7 techniques, to control two-photon transitions in caesium. By varying the spectral phases of the pulse components, we observe the predicted cancellation of the transitions due to destructive quantum interference; the power spectrum and energy of these ‘dark pulses’ are unchanged. We also show that the pulse shape can be modified extensively without affecting the two-photon transition probability.

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Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the energy levels of the 6S1/2 − 8S1/2 two-photon transitions in Cs.
Figure 2: Experimental system for coherent quantum control of two-photon transitions.
Figure 3: Experimental and calculated results for coherent quantum control oftwo-photon transitions in Cs gas by a periodic phase distribution Θ(Ω) = α cos (βΩ + ϕ).

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Acknowledgements

We thank C. Cohen-Tannoudji, N. Davidson, T. W. Hänsch and D. Tannor for helpful discussions, D. Yelin for his help in developing pulse-shaping techniques and A. Arie for loan of the Cs cell.

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  1. Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Doron Meshulach & Yaron Silberberg

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  1. Doron Meshulach
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  2. Yaron Silberberg
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Correspondence to Yaron Silberberg.

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Meshulach, D., Silberberg, Y. Coherent quantum control of two-photon transitions by a femtosecond laser pulse. Nature 396, 239–242 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/24329

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