We report on the experimental implementation of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) in a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal. Our data provide clear and striking proof for nearly complete population inversion between hyperfine levels in the Pr3+ ions. The transfer efficiency was monitored by absorption spectroscopy. Time-resolved absorption measurements serve to monitor the adiabatic population dynamics during the STIRAP process. Efficient transfer is observed for negative pulse delays (STIRAP), as well as for positive delays. We identify the latter by an alternative adiabatic passage process.
We report on experimental investigations of stimulated Raman adiabatic passage ͑STIRAP͒ in a Pr 3+ :Y 2 SiO 5 crystal. STIRAP drives complete, coherent population transfer between two hyperfine levels in the Pr 3+ ions. We investigate the variation of the STIRAP transfer efficiency with the experimental parameters: e.g., detunings, Rabi frequencies, and pulse delays. In addition, we also observe an alternative and efficient, adiabatic transfer process-i.e., b-STIRAP-which occurs for a reversed sequence of laser pulses. We compare the efficiencies and time-resolved transfer dynamics of STIRAP and b-STIRAP. The experimental data are supported by numerical simulations, also including the effect of laser frequency jitter. Our experimental data and the numerical simulations provide a clear and convincing demonstration of adiabatic excitations in a solid medium.
We examine electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), the optical preparation of persistent nuclear spin coherences and the retrieval of light pulses both in a Λ-type and a V-type coupling scheme in a Pr3+:Y2SiO5 crystal, cooled to cryogenic temperatures. The medium is prepared by optical pumping and spectral hole burning, creating a spectrally isolated Λ-type and a V-type system within the inhomogeneous bandwidth of the 3H4 ↔ 1D2 transition of the Pr3+ ions. By EIT, in the Λ-type scheme we drive a nuclear spin coherence between the ground-state hyperfine levels, while in the V-type scheme we drive a coherence between the excited-state hyperfine levels. We observe the cancellation of absorption due to EIT and the retrieval of light pulses in both level schemes. This also permits the determination of dephasing times of the nuclear spin coherence, either in the ground state or the optically excited state.
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