Eur. Phys. J. D 38, 397-404 (2006)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2006-00017-3

Manipulating the phase of a single-mode micromaser by polarized three-level atoms

¹ Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, P.R. China
² National Laboratory for Infrared Physics, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 500 Yu-Tian Road, Shanghai, 200083, P.R. China

Corresponding author: ^a sddu@fudan.ac.cn

Received: 1 August 2005
Revised: 26 November 2005
Published online: 24 January 2006

Abstract

We investigate the phase probability distribution (PPD) of a single-mode micromaser pumped by atoms injected in the most general case, i.e. in the superposition of the upper, intermediate and lower states by the Monte Carlo wave function approach. The phase properties of the cavity mode are greatly influenced by the relative phases and the amplitudes of the polarized atoms, and the detunings between the atom and cavity. The cavity field has a single preferred phase if the cavity is pumped by the atoms in the superposition of the upper and intermediate states or of the intermediate and lower states. However, a double-peak feature appears in the PPD of the cavity field when the cavity is pumped by the atoms in the superposition of the upper and lower states. With appropriate detunings, the double peaks become narrower and more remarkable, which shows the better defined phase of the cavity field, as compared to the resonant case. The PPD displays complicated characteristics when the cavity is pumped by the atoms in the superposition of the upper, intermediate and lower states. The phase distribution changes from a single peak to double peaks and to another single peak when we modulate the phase of the intermediate state, which has been explained in the semi-classical radiation theory.