Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Brett D. DePaola / In recent years, advance in ultra fast lasers and related optical
technology has enhanced the ability to control the interaction
between light and matter. In this dissertation, we try to improve
our understanding of the interaction of atomic and molecular ladder
systems with short optical pulses. A train of pulses produced by
shaping the spectral phase of a single pulse from an ultra fast laser
allows us to control the step-wise excitation in rubidium (Rb)
atoms. As a diagnostic method, we use magneto-optical trap recoil
ion momentum spectroscopy (MOTRIMS) to prepare cold target atoms and
to observe atomic ions as a result of the interaction.
We have explored the interactions of a finite number of optical
short pulses in a train with a three-level Rb atom ladder system.
Each pulse in the train is separated by a constant time interval
with a fixed pulse-to-pulse phase change. In these experiments, two
dimensional (2D) landscape maps show the interaction by measuring
population in the uppermost state of the ladder system as a function
of pulse-to-pulse time interval and phase shift. The observed
structures in the 2D landscape are due to constructive or
destructive interference in the interaction. Furthermore, different
numbers of pulses in the train are applied to the atomic Rb three
level ladder system in order to measure the effect on the
interaction. The sharpness of the interference structure is enhanced
by increasing the number of pulses. This phenomenon is analogous to
increasing the sharpness in an optical multi-slit experiment by
increasing the number of slits.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:KSU/oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/7060 |
| Date | January 1900 |
| Creators | Jang, Hyounguk |
| Publisher | Kansas State University |
| Source Sets | K-State Research Exchange |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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