Half-cycle attosecond pulse-induced dynamics of space-time photonic crystals

Abstract

Rapidly changing the refractive index of a medium in space and time (space-time photonic crystal, STPC) has been a challenging task. Such a rapid change can be achieved by carrier-wave Rabi flopping. We show that it can be realized when a train of half-cycle light pulses collide in a simple three-level atomic medium. We found the formation of Bragg microcavities and demonstrated their ultrafast control in this case. The proposed approach is a convenient way to control medium properties on the sub-cycle time scale. It is a demonstration of the formation of STPCs and their ultrafast control in a simple atomic medium, which has been a difficult task until now.