title: Carrier-envelope phase effect on atomic excitation by few-cycle rf pulses.
abstract: We present an experimental and theoretical study of the carrier-envelope phase effects on population transfer between two bound atomic states interacting with intense ultrashort pulses. Radio frequency pulses are used to transfer population among the ground state hyperfine levels in rubidium atoms. These pulses are only a few cycles in duration and have Rabi frequencies of the order of the carrier frequency. The phase difference between the carrier and the envelope of the pulses has a significant effect on the excitation of atomic coherence and population transfer. We provide a theoretical description of this phenomenon using density matrix equations. We discuss the implications and possible applications of our results.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering and Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Hebin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Vladimir A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Sautenkov
authors.forename: Yuri V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Rostovtsev
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kash
authors.forename: Petr M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Anisimov
authors.forename: George R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Welch
authors.forename: Marlan O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Scully