Talbot effect of an electromagnetically induced square photonic lattice assisted by a spatial light modulator
Shaohuan Ning, Jinxian Lu, Shun Liang, Yuan Feng, Changbiao Li, Zhaoyang Zhang, Yanpeng Zhang
Abstract
We demonstrate the Talbot effect of an electromagnetically induced square photonic lattice formed under the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) condition both experimentally and theoretically in a three-level <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"/> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>85</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">R</mml:mi> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">b</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> atomic configuration. The two-dimensional lattice patterns result from the diffraction of a Gaussian probe field traveling through the vapor cell, in which the refractive index is modulated by a coupling field with a two-dimensional periodic intensity distribution generated by a spatial light modulator. The experimental observations are consistent with the theoretical predictions. This investigation not only provides a new avenue for producing desired electromagnetically induced photonic lattices beyond the commonly adopted multi-beam interfering method but also broadens studies of electromagnetically induced Talbot effect to two-dimensional space.