Two-photon adiabatic passage in ultracold Rb interacting with a single nanosecond, chirped pulse

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a single nanosecond, chirped laser pulse can induce population inversion in ultracold Rb atoms through two-photon adiabatic passage, revealing the role of dressed states and the excited state manifold.

Contribution

It introduces a semiclassical four-level model analyzing two-photon adiabatic passage with a single chirped pulse in ultracold Rb, highlighting the involvement of dressed states and the excited state manifold.

Findings

Two dressed states are involved in adiabatic population transfer.

The excited state manifold mediates the population transfer.

Population inversion within the 5S_{1/2} state can be achieved.

Abstract

A semiclassical, four-level model of a nanosecond, chirped pulse interacting with all optically accessible hyperfine states in the ultracold Rb atom is analyzed aiming at population inversion within $5S_{1/2}$ electronic state. The nature of two-photon adiabatic passage performed by such a single pulse having a bandwidth smaller than the hyperfine splitting of $5S_{1/2}$ state is investigated in the framework of the dressed state picture. It is shown that two dressed states are involved in the adiabatic dynamics of population inversion. The excited state manifold appeared to play an important mediating role in the mechanism of population transfer.