Effect of phase fluctuations on atomic Talbot images in three-level ladder-type atomic system

Abstract

In this article, we study the atomic Talbot effect in a three-level ladder-type atomic system, which consists of a strong microwave field having a finite bandwidth and a weak probe field. The upper levels are coupled with a strong position-dependent microwave field, while a weak probe field interacts with lower levels of the atomic system. We find that phase fluctuations associated with a strong microwave field significantly affect the transmission and corresponding intensity of Talbot images. We show that the choice of various parameters is crucial in the presence of phase fluctuation. An appropriate choice along with a pump field can still improve the intensity of atomic Talbot images. We believe that our results are useful for any practical situation where the effects of phase fluctuations are important.