Superradiant amplification from two coupled optically dense two-level slabs

We study a system consisting of two coupled optically dense slabs with the same resonant atoms but initially having different degrees of inversion. We show that it is possible to modify the superradiant amplification characteristics of this system by varying the distance between slabs; in particular, we show that the burst intensity, delay and width are periodic functions of this distance with period equal to lambda /2. This feature and others of the emitted radiation can be explained by noting that a slab with resonant atoms in the ground state acts on the macroscopic level as a strong absorber and therefore also as a reflector of incident radiation resonant with its active atoms. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.