Observation of Parity-Time Symmetry in Optically Induced Atomic Lattices

• Published in: Physical review letters Vol. 117; no. 12; p. 123601
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zhaoyang, Zhang, Yiqi, Sheng, Jiteng, Yang, Liu, Miri, Mohammad-Ali, Christodoulides, Demetrios N, He, Bing, Zhang, Yanpeng, Xiao, Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 16.09.2016

We experimentally demonstrate PT-symmetric optical lattices with periodical gain and loss profiles in a coherently prepared four-level N-type atomic system. By appropriately tuning the pertinent atomic parameters, the onset of PT-symmetry breaking is observed through measuring an abrupt phase-shift...