Subtomographic imaging of a polarisation sensitive phase pattern localised in phase space

Area of Science:

• Atomic Physics
• Quantum Optics
• Optical Information Processing

Background:

• Transparent polarization-sensitive phase patterns alter light phase based on polarization without absorption.
• Phase-space patterns are higher-dimensional generalizations of position-space patterns and cannot be imaged with conventional lenses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present the concept and experimental demonstration of imprinting and imaging a polarization-sensitive phase pattern localized in atomic phase-space.
• To explore the transformation of light polarization by a phase-space localized pattern.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing atomic state-dependent velocity-selective hole burning to imprint a position-localized, polarization-dependent phase pattern onto atomic phase-space.
• Employing tomographic imaging at room temperature by analyzing the intensity of a variable-frequency transmitted laser beam after polarization analysis.
• Constructing two sub-tomographs of the imprinted phase-space localized pattern.

Main Results:

• Successfully imprinted a phase-space localized pattern in a unique 3D subspace of the 6D atomic phase-space.
• Demonstrated that the imprinted pattern transforms the polarization of transmitted light.
• Achieved tomographic imaging of the phase-space pattern at room temperature.

Conclusions:

• The study presents a novel method for imprinting and imaging polarization-sensitive phase patterns in atomic phase-space.
• This technique enables the manipulation of light polarization via phase-space structures.
• The findings hold potential for advancements in optical information processing and quantum technologies.