English

Threshold of a random laser based on Raman gain in cold atoms

Optics 2015-05-13 v2 Disordered Systems and Neural Networks Atomic Physics

Abstract

We address the problem of achieving a random laser with a cloud of cold atoms, in which gain and scattering are provided by the same atoms. In this system, the elastic scattering cross-section is related to the complex atomic polarizability. As a consequence, the random laser threshold is expressed as a function of this polarizability, which can be fully determined by spectroscopic measurements. We apply this idea to experimentally evaluate the threshold of a random laser based on Raman gain between non-degenerate Zeeman states and find a critical optical thickness on the order of 200, which is within reach of state-of-the-art cold-atom experiments.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0903.5190,
  title  = {Threshold of a random laser based on Raman gain in cold atoms},
  author = {William Guerin and Nicolas Mercadier and Davide Brivio and Robin Kaiser},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0903.5190},
  year   = {2015}
}