Optical preparation and measurement of atomic coherence at gigahertz bandwidth

摘要

We detail a method for the preparation of atomic coherence in a high-density atomic vapour of ~(87)Rb, utilizing a coherent preparation scheme of off-resonant gigahertz bandwidth pulses. The scheme is found to be faster and more effective than techniques based on resonant interaction, such as coherent population trapping and population inversion. A numerical simulation of the preparation scheme is developed, and its efficiency in preparing coherent states is found to be close to unity at the entrance to the medium. The medium is then probed non-invasively with a laser field, the polarization of which is dependent upon the relative phase of the atomic coherence produced by the preparation fields.