Abstract

In atomic and molecular physics, coherent optical techniques allowing for almost complete ultrafast transfer of a population between different molecular eigenstates has been developed and refined for many years.^1-3 One particularly successful scheme is called stimulated Raman scattering by delayed pulses (STIRAP). Within this scheme, it is possible to transfer a population between two nonoptically coupled states by using a third state (which is optically coupled to both the initial and the final state) without actually occupying it, in the end, at all.

© 1998 Optical Society of America