Open AccessPhase-sensitive amplification of an optical field using microwaves
Author(s) -
Asha Karigowda,
K. V. Adwaith,
Pradosh K. Nayak,
S. Sudha,
Barry C. Sanders,
Fabien Bretenaker,
Andal Narayanan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.032111
Subject(s) - optics , microwave , atomic coherence , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , physics , polarization (electrochemistry) , phase (matter) , four wave mixing , nonlinear optics , materials science , laser , chemistry , quantum mechanics
We report phase-sensitive amplification (PSA) of a near-infrared electromagnetic field using room-temperature 85 Rb atoms possessing ground-state coherence. Our novelty is in achieving significant optical PSA by manipulating the intensity and phase of a frequency-separated microwave field. PSA is obtained by inducing a three-wave mixing nonlinear process utilising a three-level cyclic scheme in the D1 manifold. We achieve a near-ideal PSA with a gain of 7 dB over a range of 500 kHz bandwidth with very low pump-field intensities and with low optical depths. Such a hybrid, ground-state-coherence-assisted PSA is the first such demonstration using atomic ensembles.