Generation and control of population difference gratings in a three-level hydrogen atomic medium using half-cycle attosecond pulses

Abstract

Recently, the possibility of the generation and interaction of unipolar half-cycle electromagnetic pulses with quantum systems has been the subject of active research. Such pulses can have many different and interesting applications. They are able to excite quantum systems very fast. Based on the numerical solution of Maxwell-Bloch equations, this paper theoretically studies the possibility of guiding and ultrafast controlling population difference gratings by a sequence of half-cycle attosecond pulses in a three-level resonant medium. The parameters of the model medium (transition frequencies and dipole moments of the transitions) are close to those found in the hydrogen atom. We show the possibility of guiding periodic gratings and dynamic microcavities on different resonance transitions of the medium. In this case, the medium considered is an example of a spatiotemporal photonic crystal. The refractive index varies rapidly in space and time. The possibility of the use of such gratings as Bragg mirrors in ultrafast optics is discussed. The results obtained are of interest in two actively developing areas of modern optics - the physics of half-cycle pulses and space-time photonic crystals.