Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing

A special issue of Atoms (ISSN 2218-2004).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 24755

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: collective effects; atomic physics; quantum optics; opto-mechanical effects in cold atoms; laser physics

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Guest Editor
Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0LN, UK
Interests: BECs and Cold Atoms; Light-Matter Interactions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Collective or cooperative behaviors and interactions are abundant in nature. In physics, collective interactions mediated by light are of importance both for fundamental studies of phenomena such as spontaneous self-organization in classical and quantum systems as well as for their technological application. Recent examples of ground-breaking applications include new laser sources with extraordinary spectral capabilities, e.g., coherent X-ray generation by electron beams in free-electron lasers (FELs) and ultranarrow linewidth optical radiation generation by atoms in superradiant lasers. We invite contributions to this Special Issue on any topic relating to collective effects involving the interaction between light and matter, including, but not limited to:

  • Collective atomic recoil lasing1/collective Rayleigh scattering2
  • Free-electron lasing3
  • Cooperative emission or scattering of light4
  • Superradiant and subradiant emission or scattering of light5
  • Spontaneous self-organization mediated by light

This Special Issue is dedicated to the memory of Rodolfo Bonifacio, who was a pioneer in this field. A section of the Special Issue will be dedicated to contributions from the ESRs of the European Training Network “ColOpt” Collective effects and opto-mechanics in ultra-cold matter (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016).

Dr. N. Piovella
Dr. Gordon Robb
Guest Editors

References

  1. Bonifacio and L. De Salvo Souza, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 341, 360 (1994).
  2. Inouye, A. P. Chikkatur, D. M. Stamper-Kurn, J. Stenger, D.E. Pritchard, and W. Ketterle, Science 285, 571 (1999).
  3. Bonifacio, C. Pellegrini, and L. M. Narducci, Opt. Commun. 50, 373 (1984).
  4. O. Scully, E.S. Fry, C.H.R. Ooi, K. Wodkiewicz, Phys.Rev. Lett. 96, 010501 (2006)
  5. H. Dicke, Phys. Rev. 93, 99 (1954)

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Keywords

  • collective emissions in atomic systems
  • free-electron laser
  • superradiance
  • cooperative light scattering

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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37 pages, 4365 KiB  
Article
Self-Organization in Cold Atoms Mediated by Diffractive Coupling
by Thorsten Ackemann, Guillaume Labeyrie, Giuseppe Baio, Ivor Krešić, Josh G. M. Walker, Adrian Costa Boquete, Paul Griffin, William J. Firth, Robin Kaiser, Gian-Luca Oppo and Gordon R. M. Robb
Atoms 2021, 9(3), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms9030035 - 23 Jun 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3891
Abstract
This article discusses self-organization in cold atoms via light-mediated interactions induced by feedback from a single retro-reflecting mirror. Diffractive dephasing between the pump beam and the spontaneous sidebands selects the lattice period. Spontaneous breaking of the rotational and translational symmetry occur in the [...] Read more.
This article discusses self-organization in cold atoms via light-mediated interactions induced by feedback from a single retro-reflecting mirror. Diffractive dephasing between the pump beam and the spontaneous sidebands selects the lattice period. Spontaneous breaking of the rotational and translational symmetry occur in the 2D plane transverse to the pump. We elucidate how diffractive ripples couple sites on the self-induced atomic lattice. The nonlinear phase shift of the atomic cloud imprinted onto the optical beam is the parameter determining coupling strength. The interaction can be tailored to operate either on external degrees of freedom leading to atomic crystallization for thermal atoms and supersolids for a quantum degenerate gas, or on internal degrees of freedom like populations of the excited state or Zeeman sublevels. Using the light polarization degrees of freedom on the Poincaré sphere (helicity and polarization direction), specific irreducible tensor components of the atomic Zeeman states can be coupled leading to spontaneous magnetic ordering of states of dipolar and quadrupolar nature. The requirements for critical interaction strength are compared for the different situations. Connections and extensions to longitudinally pumped cavities, counterpropagating beam schemes and the CARL instability are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing)
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19 pages, 4345 KiB  
Article
Few-Cycle Infrared Pulse Evolving in FEL Oscillators and Its Application to High-Harmonic Generation for Attosecond Ultraviolet and X-ray Pulses
by Ryoichi Hajima
Atoms 2021, 9(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms9010015 - 24 Feb 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4431
Abstract
Generation of few-cycle optical pulses in free-electron laser (FEL) oscillators has been experimentally demonstrated in FEL facilities based on normal-conducting and superconducting linear accelerators. Analytical and numerical studies have revealed that the few-cycle FEL lasing can be explained in the frame of superradiance, [...] Read more.
Generation of few-cycle optical pulses in free-electron laser (FEL) oscillators has been experimentally demonstrated in FEL facilities based on normal-conducting and superconducting linear accelerators. Analytical and numerical studies have revealed that the few-cycle FEL lasing can be explained in the frame of superradiance, cooperative emission from self-bunched systems. In the present paper, we review historical remarks of superradiance FEL experiments in short-pulse FEL oscillators with emphasis on the few-cycle pulse generation and discuss the application of the few-cycle FEL pulses to the scheme of FEL-HHG, utilization of infrared FEL pulses to drive high-harmonic generation (HHG) from gas and solid targets. The FEL-HHG enables one to explore ultrafast science with attosecond ultraviolet and X-ray pulses with a MHz repetition rate, which is difficult with HHG driven by solid-state lasers. A research program has been launched to develop technologies for the FEL-HHG and to conduct a proof-of-concept experiment of FEL-HHG. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing)
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27 pages, 608 KiB  
Article
“Amplified Spontaneous Emission” in Micro- and Nanolasers
by Gian Luca Lippi
Atoms 2021, 9(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms9010006 - 19 Jan 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4065
Abstract
Amplified Spontaneous Emission is ubiquitous in systems with optical gain and is responsible for many opportunities and shortcomings. Its role in the progression from the simplest form of thermal radiation (single emitter spontaneous emission) all the way to coherent radiation from inverted systems [...] Read more.
Amplified Spontaneous Emission is ubiquitous in systems with optical gain and is responsible for many opportunities and shortcomings. Its role in the progression from the simplest form of thermal radiation (single emitter spontaneous emission) all the way to coherent radiation from inverted systems is still an open question. We critically review observations of photon bursts in micro- and nanolasers, in the perspective of currently used measurement techniques, in relation to threshold-related questions for small devices. Corresponding stochastic predictions are analyzed, and contrasted with burst absence in differential models, in light of general phase space properties. A brief discussion on perspectives is offered in the conclusions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing)
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20 pages, 10570 KiB  
Article
Multimode Collective Atomic Recoil Lasing in Free Space
by Angel T. Gisbert and Nicola Piovella
Atoms 2020, 8(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms8040093 - 10 Dec 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2851
Abstract
Cold atomic clouds in collective atomic recoil lasing are usually confined by an optical cavity, which forces the light-scattering to befall in the mode fixed by the resonator. Here we consider the system to be in free space, which leads into a vacuum [...] Read more.
Cold atomic clouds in collective atomic recoil lasing are usually confined by an optical cavity, which forces the light-scattering to befall in the mode fixed by the resonator. Here we consider the system to be in free space, which leads into a vacuum multimode collective scattering. We show that the presence of an optical cavity is not always necessary to achieve coherent collective emission by the atomic ensemble and that a preferred scattering path arises along the major axis of the atomic cloud. We derive a full vectorial model for multimode collective atomic recoil lasing in free space. Such a model consists of multi-particle equations capable of describing the motion of each atom in a 2D/3D cloud. These equations are numerically solved by means of molecular dynamic algorithms, usually employed in other scientific fields. The numerical results show that both atomic density and collective scattering patterns are applicable to the cloud’s orientation and shape and to the polarization of the incident light. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing)
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10 pages, 1996 KiB  
Article
Wave-Kinetic Approach to Collective Atomic Emission
by José Tito Mendonça and Antonio P. B. Serbêto
Atoms 2020, 8(3), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms8030042 - 10 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2077
Abstract
We study the collective scattering of radiation by a large ensemble of Na1 atoms, in the presence of a pump field. We use the wave-kinetic approach where the center-of-mass position of the moving atoms is described by a microscopic discrete [...] Read more.
We study the collective scattering of radiation by a large ensemble of Na1 atoms, in the presence of a pump field. We use the wave-kinetic approach where the center-of-mass position of the moving atoms is described by a microscopic discrete distribution, or alternatively, by a Wigner distribution. This approach can include thermal effects and quantum recoil in a natural way, and even consider atomic ensembles out of equilibrium. We assume two-level atoms with atomic transition frequency ωa very different from the frequency ω0 of the pump field. We consider both the quasi-classical and quantum descriptions of the center-of-mass motion. In both cases, we establish the unstable regimes where coherent emission of radiation can take place. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing)
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Review

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32 pages, 903 KiB  
Review
A Review of High-Gain Free-Electron Laser Theory
by Nicola Piovella and Luca Volpe
Atoms 2021, 9(2), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms9020028 - 12 May 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3363
Abstract
High-gain free-electron lasers, conceived in the 1980s, are nowadays the only bright sources of coherent X-ray radiation available. In this article, we review the theory developed by R. Bonifacio and coworkers, who have been some of the first scientists envisaging its operation as [...] Read more.
High-gain free-electron lasers, conceived in the 1980s, are nowadays the only bright sources of coherent X-ray radiation available. In this article, we review the theory developed by R. Bonifacio and coworkers, who have been some of the first scientists envisaging its operation as a single-pass amplifier starting from incoherent undulator radiation, in the so called self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) regime. We review the FEL theory, discussing how the FEL parameters emerge from it, which are fundamental for describing, designing and understanding all FEL experiments in the high-gain, single-pass operation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing)
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Other

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21 pages, 1390 KiB  
Tutorial
Classical and Quantum Collective Recoil Lasing: A Tutorial
by Nicola Piovella, Angel Tarramera Gisbert and Gordon R. M. Robb
Atoms 2021, 9(3), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/atoms9030040 - 6 Jul 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2631
Abstract
Collective atomic recoil lasing (CARL) is a process during which an ensemble of cold atoms, driven by a far-detuned laser beam, spontaneously organize themselves in periodic structures on the scale of the optical wavelength. The principle was envisaged by R. Bonifacio in 1994 [...] Read more.
Collective atomic recoil lasing (CARL) is a process during which an ensemble of cold atoms, driven by a far-detuned laser beam, spontaneously organize themselves in periodic structures on the scale of the optical wavelength. The principle was envisaged by R. Bonifacio in 1994 and, ten years later, observed in a series of experiments in Tübingen by C. Zimmermann and colleagues. Here, we review the basic model of CARL in the classical and in the quantum regime. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Collective Atomic and Free-Electron Lasing)
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