Rayleigh scattering under light-atom coherent interaction

TL;DR

This paper analyzes Rayleigh scattering in two-level atoms under coherent light interaction, revealing its comparable power to spontaneous emission, anisotropic polarization, and oscillatory behavior at twice the Rabi frequency.

Contribution

It provides a semi-classical analysis showing Rayleigh scattering's properties and its significance relative to spontaneous emission in coherent atomic interactions.

Findings

Rayleigh scattering power is comparable to spontaneous emission.

Rayleigh scattering is strongly anisotropic and polarized.

Radiation pressure from Rayleigh scattering can exceed spontaneous emission under certain conditions.

Abstract

Semi-classical calculation of an oscillating dipole induced in a two-level atom indicates that spherical radiation from the dipole under coherent interaction, i.e., Rayleigh scattering, has a power level comparable to that of spontaneous emission resulting from an incoherent process. Whereas spontaneous emission is nearly isotropic and has random polarization generally, Rayleigh scattering is strongly anisotropic and polarized in association with incident light. In the case where Rabi frequency is much larger than frequency detuning and spontaneous emission rate, while the power of spontaneous emission varies with time at the Rabi frequency, the power of Rayleigh scattering oscillates at twice the Rabi frequency. Moreover, the radiation pressure force acting on an atom due to Rayleigh scattering exceeds that caused by spontaneous emission when frequency detuning is large.