Initiation of Superfluorescence in Coherently Pumped Three-Level Systems

The fully quantum mechanical treatment of superfluorescence buildup in the linearized regime of superfluorescence is presented for coherently, optically pumped three-level systems. It is shown that to order $\frac{{\tau }_p}{{\tau }_R}$, where ${\tau }_p$ is the pump time duration and ${\tau }_R$ the characteristic superfluorescence time, fluorescence buildup during the dynamical pumping process contributes significantly to quantum initiation of superfluorescence.