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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 81 » Issue 16
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 3359–3362 (1998)

Coherent Control of the Polarization of an Optical Field

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S. Wielandy* and Alexander L. Gaeta
School of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853

Received 16 March 1998; published in the issue dated 19 October 1998

See accompanying Physics Focus

Through use of quantum coherence in an atomic system, we demonstrate that an optical field can be used to completely control the polarization state of another field. Theoretical and experimental results show that by applying a field with a frequency tuned near one transition, an initially isotropic atomic vapor can be made to behave as a linearly or circularly birefringent material for fields tuned near an adjoining transition.

© 1998 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.3359
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.3359
PACS:
42.50.Gy, 32.80.Qk, 42.25.Ja

*Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853.

 
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