Towards more relaxed conditions for a gamma‐ray laser: Methods to realize induced transparency for nuclear resonant gamma radiation

Abstract

Abstract Nuclear quantum optics deals with the resonant interaction of gamma‐radiation and nuclei, generally incorporated in a solid‐state material. Single gamma‐rays interact with an ensemble of nuclei. The properties of the resonantly forward‐scattered gamma‐radiation depend on the details of the interaction. An external modification of the nuclear energies will influence the interactions, and hence the properties of the radiation. Several techniques are proposed to reduce the resonant absorption of the gamma‐rays, creating a nuclear medium that is partially transparent: nuclear‐level‐mixing induced transparency, modification of nuclear levels by means of an optical laser, phase‐shift‐induced transparency. Interference is crucial in all this. The partial transparency could be exploited to study special effects such as slow gamma‐radiation and gain without population inversion. It could also be of importance for the realization of a gamma‐ray laser.