Comparative study of four-wave mixing in chaotic and phase-diffusing fields

We consider the dependence of the four-wave-mixing signal from an ensemble of homogeneously broadened, two-level atoms on the statistics of the pump field. Two models for the pump field are considered: the chaotic field and the phase-diffusing field. A Monte Carlo simulation procedure is used to integrate the equations describing the four-wave-mixing process numerically. This technique allows consideration of arbitrary bandwidths for the pump and incorporates pump-induced saturation effects. Results are presented for the strength of the four-wave-mixing signal as a function of the pump intensity for both resonant and off-resonant cases. It is shown that the four-wave-mixing signal is sensitive to the statistics of the pump, particularly for strong fields