Ultrashort pulses in an inhomogeneously broadened two-level medium: soliton formation and inelastic collisions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how ultrashort pulses form solitons and interact in an inhomogeneously broadened two-level medium, revealing effects of broadening on soliton formation and collision elasticity.

Contribution

It provides numerical insights into the transient formation of self-induced transparency solitons and the inelastic nature of soliton collisions influenced by inhomogeneous broadening.

Findings

Pulse compression is more effective in homogeneous broadening.

Inhomogeneous broadening affects collision elasticity.

Numerical simulations elucidate soliton dynamics in two-level media.

Abstract

Using numerical simulations, we study propagation of ultrashort light pulses in an inhomogeneously broadened two-level medium. There are two main issues in our study. The first one concerns the transient process of self-induced transparency soliton formation, in particular, the compression of the pulse which seems to be more effective in the case of homogeneous broadening. The second question deals with the collisions of counter-propagating solitons. It is shown that the level of inhomogeneous broadening has a substantial effect on the elasticity of such collisions.