Transient coherence of an EIT media under strong phase modulation

Abstract: A strong phase modulated coupling field leads to an amplitude modulation of a probe field in an electromagnetically induced transparency process. Time vs. detuning plots for different modulation frequencies reveals a transition between an adiabatic regime where a series of smooth pulses are created with a global phase dependent upon the detuning, and a non-adiabatic regime where a strong transient oscillating response is added to these pulses. In the extreme non-adiabatic regime, where the modulation frequency is higher than the transient decay time, a coherent interference pattern is revealed. Adding a magnetic field lifts the hyperfine level degeneracy, resulting in a separation of the original pulse to three pulses. Every pulse has now a different phase dependent upon the magnetic field causing an interference effect between the different magnetic level transients. We explore the dynamics of the magnetic and non magnetic cases and show its resemblance to the Landau-Zener theory. We also show that combining the global phase of the pulses with the transient interference allows for a wide magnetic sensing range without loosing the sensitivity of a single EIT line.