Bragg-like microcavity formed by collision of single-cycle self-induced transparency light pulses in a resonant medium.

The coherent interaction of extremely short light pulses with a resonant medium can result in the formation of population difference gratings. Such gratings have been created by pulses that are π/2 or smaller. This paper demonstrates that a microcavity with Bragg-like mirrors can be formed by colliding two single-cycle attosecond self-induced transparency pulses in the center of a two-level medium.

Dissipative three-dimensional topological optical solitons with crossed localization of polarization components.

We present a new, to the best of our knowledge, type of vector three-dimensional dissipative optical solitons with more extended degrees of freedom in a laser or laser medium with saturable absorption. These solitons are reconfigurable, include polarization singularities, and have various mutual orientations of nearly toroidal localization domains of polarization components. Numerical modeling confirms the stability of these solitons and breathers and reveals their symmetry and even "supersymmetry," as well as transformations when parameters leave the stability region.

Formation of electromagnetic pulses with nonzero electrical area by media with ferromagnetism.

The known rule of conservation of the electrical area of pulses, which plays a decisive role in the effectiveness of the action of extremely short pulses on microobjects, is valid for a wide class of media, including all non-magnetic ones. We show how this rule changes in magnetically ordered media, where pulses can induce magnetization variation. We found that such variations serve as another source of pulse electrical area, in addition to the movement of charges.

Sub-10 fs unipolar pulses of a tailored waveshape from a multilevel resonant medium.

We theoretically demonstrate the possibility to tune the temporal waveform of unipolar pulses of femtosecond duration emitted from a multilevel resonant medium. This is achieved through the control of the medium response by a properly adjusted sequence of half-cycle unipolar or quasi-unipolar driving pulses and the spatial density profile of resonant centers along the medium layer. We show the production of unipolar optical pulses of varying profiles, like rectangular or triangular ones, from an extended layer of a multilevel medium.

Generation of an ultrahigh-repetition-rate optical half-cycle pulse train in the nested quantum wells.

We propose a simple quantum system, namely, a nested quantum-well structure, which is able to generate a train of half-cycle pulses of a few-femtosecond duration when driven by a static electric field. We theoretically investigate the emission of such a structure and its dependence on the parameters of the quantum wells. It is shown that the production of a regular output pulse train with tunable properties and the pulse repetition frequencies of tens of terahertz is possible in certain parameter ranges.

Frequency locking and alternation of topological indices of vortex laser solitons.

We analyze the effect of frequency locking for polarization components of a semiconductor laser with fast gain, saturating absorption, and weak anisotropy. A mode of alternation of topological indices when leaving the locking area was found.

Self-Stopping of Light.

Here, we show that light can bring itself to a complete standstill (self-stop) via self-interaction mediated by the resonant nonlinearity in a fully homogeneous medium. An intense few-cycle pulse, entering the medium, may reshape to form a strongly coupled light-matter bundle, in which the energy is transferred from light to the medium and back periodically on the single-cycle scale. Such oscillating structure can decelerate, alter its propagation direction, and even completely stop, depending on the state of its internal degrees of freedom.

Tubular laser solitons.

We analyze, to the best of our knowledge, a new type of topological optical solitons in lasers with fast saturable absorption, which is intermediate between 2D and 3D ones. Being generated by 2D laser solitons, such 3D dissipative solitons in a laser cavity of length have a number of vortex lines, which are straight for under-critical values and spiral for larger . For supercritical , a vortex with multiple topological charges >1 in generating 2D solitons transforms into separate vortex lines.

Temporal differentiation and integration of few-cycle pulses by ultrathin metallic films.

We study theoretically the temporal transformations of few-cycle pulses upon linear interaction with ultrathin metallic films. We show that under certain conditions on the film thickness and the pulse spectrum, one obtains the temporal differentiation of the pulse shape in transmission and the temporal integration in reflection. In contrast to previous studies, these transformations are obtained for the field of few-cycle pulses itself instead of the slowly varying pulse envelope.

Single-cycle pulse compression in dense resonant media.

We propose here a new approach for compression and frequency up-conversion of short optical pulses in the regime of extreme nonlinear optics in optically dense absorbing media, providing an alternative route to attosecond-scale pulses at high frequencies. This method is based on dynamics of self-induced transparency (SIT) pulses of nearly single cycle duration, leading to single-cycle-scale Rabi oscillations in the medium. The sub-cycle components of an incident pulse behave as separate SIT-pulses, approaching each other and self-compressing, resulting in the threefold compression in time and frequency up-conversion by the same factor.

Stable coherent mode-locking based on [Formula: see text] pulse formation in single-section lasers.

Here we consider coherent mode-locking (CML) regimes in single-section cavity lasers, taking place for pulse durations less than atomic population and phase relaxation times, which arise due to coherent Rabi oscillations of the atomic inversion. Typically, CML is introduced for lasers with two sections, the gain and absorber ones. Here we show that, for certain combination of the cavity length and relaxation parameters, a very stable CML in a laser, containing only gain section, may arise.

Nonconservation of Topological Charge and Cusps in a One-Dimensional Laser Scheme.

An analysis was made of the field structures in a coaxial laser with fast saturable absorption. In such an efficiently one-dimensional scheme, the integer topological index (charge) naturally arises: the phase incursion of the field envelope when bypassing the aperture, divided by 2π. The topological charge is the winding number for the phase curve introduced for the electric field envelope with increase of the coordinate for fixed time.

Control of topology of two-dimensional solitons in a laser with saturable absorption by means of a coherent holding radiation: publisher's note.

This publisher's note contains corrections to Opt. Lett.45, 3284 (2020)OPLEDP0146-959210.

Selective ultrafast control of multi-level quantum systems by subcycle and unipolar pulses.

The most typical way to optically control population of atomic and molecular systems is to illuminate them with radiation, resonant to the relevant transitions. Here we consider a possibility to control populations with the subcycle and even unipolar pulses, containing less than one oscillation of electric field. Despite the spectrum of such pulses covers several levels at once, we show that it is possible to selectively excite the levels of our choice by varying the driving pulse shape, duration or time delay between consecutive pulses.

Control of topology of two-dimensional solitons in a laser with saturable absorption by means of a coherent holding radiation.

We propose a simple method to control the topology of laser vortex solitons and their complexes in a wide-aperture laser with saturable absorption by means of weak coherent holding radiation. The holding radiation acting on initial "free" vortex solitons induces the appearance of new peripheral vortices and the splitting of multiple central vortices, as well as reconfiguration of energy flow topology. A wide variety of these stable vortex structures makes the scheme promising for topologically protected information processing.

Asymptotic dynamics of three-dimensional bipolar ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in an array of semiconductor carbon nanotubes.

We study the propagation of three-dimensional bipolar ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in an array of semiconductor carbon nanotubes at times much longer than the pulse duration, yet still shorter than the relaxation time in the system. The interaction of the electromagnetic field with the electronic subsystem of the medium is described by means of Maxwell's equations, taking into account the field inhomogeneity along the nanotube axis beyond the approximation of slowly varying amplitudes and phases. A model is proposed for the analysis of the dynamics of an electromagnetic pulse in the form of an effective equation for the vector potential of the field.

Extreme and Topological Dissipative Solitons with Structured Matter and Structured Light.

Structuring of matter with nanoobjects allows one to generate soliton-like light bundles with extreme characteristics-temporal duration and spatial dimensions. On the other hand, structuring of light gives the possibility to form light bundles with complicated internal structure; their topology could be used for information coding similar to that in self-replicating RNA molecules carrying genetic code. Here we review the both variants of structuring.

Unusual terahertz waveforms from a resonant medium controlled by diffractive optical elements.

Up to now, full tunability of waveforms was possible only in electronics, up to radio-frequencies. Here we propose a new concept of producing few-cycle terahertz (THz) pulses with widely tunable waveforms. It is based on control of the phase delay between different parts of the THz wavefront using linear diffractive optical elements.

Unipolar subcycle pulse-driven nonresonant excitation of quantum systems.

The interaction of subcycle pulses with quantum systems is considered when the pulse duration becomes much smaller than the timescales of electron oscillations. We show analytically that the interaction process in this case is governed by the electric pulse area. The efficient nonresonant excitation of quantum systems by subcycle pulses with a high degree of unipolarity is demonstrated.

Irreversible Hysteresis of Internal Structure of Tangle Dissipative Optical Solitons.

For three-dimensional tangle laser solitons that have a number of unclosed and closed vortex lines and coexist in a range of the scheme parameters, we predict irreversible hysteretic transformation of their internal structure when a system parameter slowly and regularly varies crossing the boundary of the stability of one or another soliton. During the hysteresis cycle, when restoring the initial parameter value, the soliton topology simplifies (decrease of topological indices), its field energy decreases, and the energy of the medium increases. The transient includes a series of elementary reactions: reconnection of vortex lines, separation of closed vortex loops after strong bending of a parent vortex line, and twist of unclosed vortex lines changing topological indices.

Dynamics of nonlinear Schrödinger breathers in a potential trap.

We consider the evolution of the 2-soliton (breather) of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation on a semi-infinite line with the zero boundary condition and a linear potential, which corresponds to the gravity field in the presence of a hard floor. This setting can be implemented in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates, and in a nonlinear planar waveguide in optics. In the absence of the gravity, repulsion of the breather from the floor leads to its splitting into constituent fundamental solitons, if the initial distance from the floor is smaller than a critical value; otherwise, the moving breather persists.

Topological three-dimensional dissipative optical solitons.

This article presents a review of recent investigations of topological three-dimensional (3D) dissipative optical solitons in homogeneous laser media with fast nonlinearity of amplification and absorption. The solitons are found numerically, with their formation, by embedding two-dimensional laser solitons or their complexes in 3D space after their rotation around a vortex straight line with their simultaneous twist. After a transient, the 'hula-hoop' solitons can form with a number of closed and unclosed infinite vortex lines, i.

Topological Vortex and Knotted Dissipative Optical 3D Solitons Generated by 2D Vortex Solitons.

We predict a new class of three-dimensional (3D) topological dissipative optical one-component solitons in homogeneous laser media with fast saturable absorption. Their skeletons formed by vortex lines where the field vanishes are tangles, i.e.

Population density gratings induced by few-cycle optical pulses in a resonant medium.

Creation, erasing and ultrafast control of population density gratings using few-cycle optical pulses coherently interacting with resonant medium is discussed. In contrast to the commonly used schemes, here the pulses do not need to overlap in the medium, interaction between the pulses is mediated by excitation of polarization waves. We investigate the details of the dynamics arising in such ultrashort pulse scheme and develop an analytical theory demonstrating the importance of the phase memory effects in the dynamics.