Lecture 2: Propagation of light

waves and pulses

Petr Kuel
Propagation of plane waves in linear homogeneous isotropic (LHI)
media:
! refractive index
! intensity
! absorption
Propagation of light pulses:
! group velocity
! group dispersion chirp
! superluminal effects (?)
 Wave equation
B 2 2E N2
2 2E
E + = 0 E 0 2 = 0 E 2 =0
t t or c t 2
D
H = 0 2 2H 2 N2 2H
H 0 2 = 0 H 2 =0
t t c t 2

( ( E ) = E E )
2
= 0 r c=
1
0 0
well-known identity r = r ir
N 2 = 0 c 2 = r
dielectric constant
refractive index

r = n 2 2 , r = 2n,
N = n i
n=
1
2
( +
r
2
r
2
)
+ r , =
1
2
( +
r
2
r
2
r )
 Propagation in the vacuum
2
E 2
1 2E
=0 E = E0 ei (t k r )
t 2
c with k k =
1 2H c
2 H 2 2
=0 H = H 0ei (t k r )
c t

Back to Maxwells equations:

B 1
E + = ik E + i 0 H = 0 (k E0 ) = H 0
t 0
E = i k E = 0

k E0 H 0 k s=k k
H 0 = 01 (s E 0 )
0
0 = 377
B0 = c 1
(s E 0 ) 0
 Superpositions of plane waves
In the k-space: 3-dimensional
E (t , r ) = E0 (k ) ei (t k r )dk
H (t , r ) = H 0 (k ) ei (t k r )dk

In the -space: 1-dimensional (propagation along z: kx = ky = 0)

E (t , z ) = E 0 ( ) ei (t kz )d
H (t , z ) = H 0 ( ) ei (t kz )d

Pulse: central frequency 0; central wave vector k0 = 0/c.

E (t , z ) = E1 (t , z ) ei ( 0t k0 z ) = ei ( 0t k0 z ) E 0 ( ) ei (( 0 )t (k k0 )z )d =

= ei ( 0t k0 z ) E 0 ( ) ei ( 0 )(t z c )d = E1 (t z c ) ei ( 0t k0 z )
 Propagation in the matter
2 N2
E 2
2E
=0 E = E0 ei (t k r )
t 2
c with k k = N
N2 2H c
H = H 0ei (t k r )
2
H 2 2
=0
c t

Back to Maxwells equations:

B 1
E + = ik E + i 0 H = 0 (k E0 ) = H 0
t 0
E = i k E = 0

k E0 H 0 k s=k k
H0 =
N
(s E0 ) 0 0
0
= =

B0 = (s E 0 )
N N
c
 Propagation direction
(vector k)
k = k ik

k' = n /c, k'' = /c

k' and k'' can have different different directions:
! k'r = const: constant phase planes
! k''r = const: constant amplitude planes
k'': boundary conditions of an absorbing sample
ki

kr
n1

N2 = n2 i2 z
k''t

'
k't y
x
 Propagation direction
(vector S)
Energy flow (Poynting vector S)
{
S = E H = 12 Re E H }
S =
1
2 0
{ (
Re E k E =
1
)}
2 0
{ ( )
Re k E E (k E ) E =
#" !
}
0

=
1
2 0
{ ( ) }
Re (k ik ) E 0 E 0 e 2 k r =
k
2 0
2
E0 e 2 k r

Propagation along z (k // z)

S = (2 0 ) n
2 n 2
E 0 e 2z c = E 0 e z
1
c 20
2 4
() = =
c
 Optical pulses: dispersion
Dispersion relation (non-absorbing medium):

k= n()
c
Optical pulse as a linear combination of eigenmodes:
E (t , z ) = E 0 (k ) ei ((k )t kz )dk = E 0 () ei ( t k () z )d

Mean frequency 0 and wave vector k0: 0, k k0:

d 1 d 2
(k ) = 0 + (k k0 ) + 2 (k k0 )
2
= 0 + v g (k k0 ) + (k k0 )2
dk 0 2 dk 0 2
dk 1 d 2k
k () = k 0 + ( 0 ) + 2 ( 0 ) = k0 + v g1 ( 0 ) + ( 0 )2
2

d 0 2 d 0 2

= v 3g group velocity dispersion (GVD)

Group velocity (first order effects)
Propagation of a pulse

i ( t k z ) ( )
E (t , z ) = E0 (k ) e 0 0 e dk = ei (0 t k0 z ) E 0 (k ) e
i v g ( k k 0 ) t ( k k0 ) z i (v g t z )( k k0 )
dk =

(
== ei (0t k0 z ) E1 z v g t = e# )
ik0 ( z vt )
$"$ !# E1 z v g t
$"$!
( )
( A)
( B)

(A): field oscillation with the central frequency

0 c
wave front velocity: v= =
k0 n()
(B): propagation of envelope without deformation
d
group velocity vg =
dk 0

n()
c
k= d dk vg =
c n + dn d
 Optical pulses: energy flow
Poynting vector
1 0
n 2 c= , 0 =
S (z v gt) = E1 ( z v g t ) e 2 z / c 0 0 0
2 0

Energy conservation law

U 1 d () E1 E
e 2 z / c = E1 E1 + E1 + 1 E1 =
t 2 2 d t t
E
= n 0 E1 E1 + n 2 + dn2 d 0 1 E1
#$$2"$$! t
n (n + dn d)= nc v g

n 2
S = E1 ( z v g t ) e 2 z / c =
20 z
n n E1 2 z / c U
= E1 E1 + E1 e =
0 c 0v g t t

 Group velocity dispersion GVD
(second order effects)
Main effect: pulse broadening in time
This treatment is necessary for
! Ultrashort pulse (sub-50 fs) propagation
! Ultrashort pulse (ps or sub-ps) generation in lasers (multiple
passes through dispersive media)
! Short pulse (sub-ns) propagation in fibers (extremely long
distances)

(k ) = 0 + v g (k k0 ) + (k k0 )2
2

k () = k0 + v g1 ( 0 ) + ( 0 )2
2
 Intuitive treatment
Spectral components coming from two
ends of the spectrum propagate with
different velocities
dv g
v g = vg(1 ) vg(2 ) z
d
GVD is defined as
d 2k d 1
= 1
dv g
= = 0
d2 d v g
v g d
2

Spreading due to a thickness L of the dispersive material:

L L dv g L
v = = L = 4 ln 2
2
v g d
2
0
g
vg
for a gaussian pulse shape
 Exact treatment
Superposition of the spectral components

i (0 t k0 z ) iz ( 2v 3g ) ( 0 ) 2
E (t , z ) = E0 () e
i (t k ( ) z )
E0 () e
i ( 0 ) (t z v g )
d = e e d

One gets for a gaussian pulse for a crystal length L after all the integrations:
(t z v g )2 (1i )

E(t , z ) = A e

i (0 t k0 z ) 1
e (2 +1) with = 2L =
4 ln 2 L
1 + i 02

Spreading due to a thickness L of the dispersive material:

2
4ln 2 L 4 ln 2 L
(L ) = 0 1 + 2 = 0 1 + 2


0 0
(intuitive treatment)
 z=0 z = z0 z = 2z0 z = 3z0
E

(A)

(B)

(C)

Mean frequency varies in time:

(z , t ) == 0 +
( ) 2
t z v g 4 L
t 1 + (2 L )2
2
Chirp (group delay dispersion): GDD = 2 = L

 Pulse spreading: example
120
Dispersion of a BK7 plate
Pulse length after the plate (fs)

100

80

60
Thickness:
10 mm
40 6 mm
3 mm

20
20 40 60 80 100
Bandwidth-limited pulse length (fs)
 Superluminal effects
What can be superluminal?
! Phase velocity?
! Group velocity?
! Velocity of an information?
Definition of the speed of an information transfer
 Information speed

Amplification process

The noise can only slow down the information transfer

 Phase velocity

k = 0, v = k cos, v/cos

k, v
 Group velocity
c
vg =
dn
n+
d

Group velocity can exceed the vacuum speed of the light:

! region of anomalous dispersion
" dielectric resonance
" gain medium
 10 10

Dielectric
8 8
resonance

absorption index
refractive index
6 6

4 4
group velocity
2 2
c
vg =
dn 0 0
n+ 0 1 2 3 4
d Frequency (arb. u.)

1.5 3

penetration depth normalized to

group velocity normalized toc

group velocity can be 0.5

2

superluminal
0
penetration depth = 1
fraction of -0.5

-1 0
0 1 2 3 4
Frequency (arb. u.)
 Gain-assisted superluminal light
propagation
L. J. Wang, A. Kuzmich & A. Dogariu
NEC Research Institute, 4 Independence Way, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA

Gain-assisted Measured pulse advancement Conclusion:

anomalous dispersion: corresponds to a negative group
pulse maximum and
velocity
leading / trailing edge
of the pulse are
advanced
there is almost (!!) no
change in the pulse
shape
the very first non-zero
signal can never (!!)
be advanced