Ultrafast coherent population transfer with a train of weak femtosecond pulse pairs

摘要

We investigate ultrafast coherent population transfer in a -type three-level system driven by a train of weak phase-locked pump-Stokes femtosecond pulse pairs, where the pump and Stokes pulses in each pair are applied in counterintuitive order, similar to that in the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage technique. It is shown that due to temporal constructive quantum interference and the subsequent coherent accumulation, complete population transfer can be achieved by a few pulse pairs with suitable interpair and intrapair time delays even if a single pair of pulses in the train is so weak that nearly no population transfer can take place. The method is efficient and robust to moderate variations in the interpair and intrapair time delays, number of pulse pairs, and laser intensity, which is particularly favorable to coherent population transfer in quantum systems with weak oscillator strengths.