Self-Organization, Broken Symmetry, and Lasing in an Atomic Vapor: The Interdependence of Gratings and Gain

P. R. Hemmer; N. P. Bigelow; D. P. Katz; M. S. Shahriar; L. DeSalvo; R. Bonifacio

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.1468

Self-Organization, Broken Symmetry, and Lasing in an Atomic Vapor: The Interdependence of Gratings and Gain

P. R. Hemmer, N. P. Bigelow, D. P. Katz, M. S. Shahriar, L. DeSalvo, and R. Bonifacio

Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1468 – Published 19 August 1996

Abstract

We describe a novel optical gain mechanism observed in a strongly driven Doppler-broadened atomic vapor. Gain and self-stabilizing laser oscillations are observed in a direction which is counterpropagating with respect to the traveling wave pump. Using Bragg diffraction, we show that the underlying gain-lasing mechanism is directly tied to a spontaneously formed optical wavelength grating. We suggest that this grating arises from a self-organization or self-bunching of the atoms, an effect which is mediated by recoil just as in the free electron laser.

Received 13 March 1996

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.1468

Authors & Affiliations

P. R. Hemmer¹, N. P. Bigelow², D. P. Katz³, M. S. Shahriar⁴, L. DeSalvo⁵, and R. Bonifacio⁵

¹Rome Laboratory, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts 01731
²Department of Physics and Astronomy and Laboratory for Laser Energetics, The University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627
³Division of Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
⁴Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
⁵Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano, INFN and INFM, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy