Superradiant control of gamma-ray propagation by vibrating nuclear arrays

Abstract

The collective nature of light interactions with atomic and nuclear ensembles yields the fascinating phenomena of superradiance and radiation trapping. We study the interaction of gamma rays with a coherently vibrating periodic array of two-level nuclei. Such nuclear motion can be generated, e.g., in ionic crystals illuminated by a strong driving optical laser field. We find that deflection of the incident gamma beam into the Bragg angle can be switched on and off by nuclear vibrations on a superradiant time scale determined by the collective nuclear frequency, which is of the order of terahertz. Namely, if the incident gamma wave is detuned from the nuclear transition by much larger frequency it passes through the static nuclear array. However, if the nuclei vibrate with the frequency of the gamma ray detuning then parametric resonance can yield energy transfer into the Bragg deflected beam on the superradiant time scale, which can be used for fast control of gamma rays.