title: Coherent interactions of terahertz strain solitons and electronic two-level systems in photoexcited ruby.
abstract: We observe coherent interactions between an ultrashort, longitudinal acoustic soliton train and the 29-cm(-1) electronic transition in photoexcited ruby. Propagation of the strain pulses over millimeter distance through an excited zone reveals striking behavior of the induced electronic population, which has been explained by impulsive excitation of the two-level systems, combined with the nonlinear properties of the solitons in the resonant medium. This opens up new possibilities for coherent manipulation of ultrashort acoustic pulses by local electronic centers.
authors.affiliation: Debye Institute, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Utrecht, P.O. Box 80 000, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands. O.L.Meskens@phys.uu.nl
authors.forename: Otto L
authors.initials: OL
authors.lastname: Muskens
authors.forename: Andrey V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Akimov
authors.forename: Jaap I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Dijkhuis