Photonic Rabi Oscillations in Defective Plasma Photonic Crystals

The Rabi oscillation effect, which is among the most celebrated quantum phenomena arising from the wave nature of matter, has been widely studied in two-level quantum systems, superconductors, Bose-Einstein condensates, and photonic crystals. Here we show that the Rabi oscillation can be achieved in a laser-plasma system, in which a femtosecond probe laser pulse interacts with a defective plasma photonic crystal (PPC). The defective PPC is formed in underdense plasma irradiated by two groups of two-color driver laser pulses. By changing the plasma and driver laser parameters, the photonic band structure of defective PPCs as well as the Rabi oscillation frequency of a trapped probe laser pulse can be tuned flexibly. Moreover, the Rabi oscillation may result in the ladder climbing of trapped laser intensity by use of multiple probe pulses in the defective PPC. This not only provides a novel plasma optical approach to investigate the Rabi oscillation in a new system, but also offers a new route to manipulate the propagation of intense laser pulses for various applications.