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arXiv:1204.0955 · Physical Review A

Light storage based on four-wave mixing and electromagnetically induced transparency in cold atoms

Jinghui Wu, Yang Liu, Dong-Sheng Ding, Zhi‐Yuan Zhou, Bao‐Sen Shi, Guang‐Can Guo

Published Jan 31, 2013• 37 citations

Abstract

We performed an experiment to observe the storage of an input probe field and an idler field generated through an off-axis four-wave mixing (FWM) process via a double-\ensuremath{\Lambda} configuration in a cold atomic ensemble. We analyzed the underlying physics in detail and found that the retrieved idler field came from two parts if there was no single-photon detuning for the pump pulse: Part 1 was from the collective atomic spin (the input probe field, the coupling field, and the pump field combined to generate the idler field through FWM; then the idler was stored through electromagnetically induced transparency). Part 2 was from the generated new FWM process during the retrieval process (the retrieved probe field, the coupling field, and the pump field combined to generate a new FWM signal). If there was single-photon detuning for the pump pulse, then the retrieved idler was mainly from part 2. The retrieved two fields exhibited damped oscillations with the same oscillatory period when a homogeneous external magnetic field was applied, which was caused by the Larmor spin precession. We also experimentally realized the storage and retrieval of an image of light using FWM, in which an image was added into the input signal. After the storage, the retrieved idler beams and input signal carried the same image. This image storage technique holds promise for applications in image processing, remote sensing, and quantum communication.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.87.013845

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We performed an experiment to observe the storage of an input probe field and an idler field generated through an off-axis four-wave mixing (FWM) process via a double-\ensuremath{\Lambda} configuration in a cold atomic ensemble. We analyzed the underlying physics in detail and found that the retrieved idler field came from two parts if there was no single-photon detuning for the pump pulse: Part 1 was from the collective atomic spin (the input probe field, the coupling field, and the pump field combined to generate the idler field through FWM; then the idler was stored through electromagnetically induced transparency). Part 2 was from the generated new FWM process during the retrieval process (the retrieved probe field, the coupling field, and the pump field combined to generate a new FWM signal). If there was single-photon detuning for the pump pulse, then the retrieved idler was mainly from part 2. The retrieved two fields exhibited damped oscillations with the same oscillatory period when a homogeneous external magnetic field was applied, which was caused by the Larmor spin precession. We also experimentally realized the storage and retrieval of an image of light using FWM, in which an image was added into the input signal. After the storage, the retrieved idler beams and input signal carried the same image. This image storage technique holds promise for applications in image processing, remote sensing, and quantum communication.

We study the modification of a traditional electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) stored-light technique that includes both EIT and four-wave mixing (FWM) in an ensemble of hot Rb atoms. The standard treatment of light storage involves the coherent and reversible mapping of one photonic mode onto a collective spin coherence. It has been shown that unwanted, competing processes such as four-wave mixing are enhanced by EIT and can significantly modify the signal optical pulse propagation. We present theoretical and experimental evidence to indicate that, while a Stokes field is indeed detected upon retrieval of the signal field, any information originally encoded in a seeded Stokes field is not independently preserved during the storage process. We present a simple model that describes the propagation dynamics of the fields and the impact of FWM on the spin wave.

We report on the dynamic manipulation of light in a warm 87Rb atomic ensemble using light storage based on the atomic spin coherence arising from the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and spontaneous four-wave mixing (FWM) processes. We demonstrate that, subsequent to the generation of atomic spin coherence between two hyperfine ground states via the EIT storage process, it is possible to control the delay time, direction, and optical frequency of the retrieved light according to the timing sequence and powers of the coupling, probe, and driving lasers used for atomic-spin-coherence generation and the spontaneous FWM process. We believe that our results provide useful ideas in photon frequency conversion and photon control in connection with the quantum memories that is essential in the quantum communications technology.

The recent prospect of efficient, reliable, and secure quantum communication relies on the ability to coherently and reversibly map nonclassical states of light onto long-lived atomic states. A promising technique that accomplishes this employs Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), in which a strong classical control field modifies the optical properties of a weak signal field in such a way that a previously opaque medium becomes transparent to the signal field. The accompanying steep dispersion in the index of refraction allows for pulses of light to be decelerated, then stored as an atomic excitation, and later retrieved as a photonic mode. This dissertation presents the results of investigations into methods for optimizing the memory efficiency of this process in an ensemble of hot Rb atoms. We have experimentally demonstrated the effectiveness of two protocols for yielding the best memory efficiency possible at a given atomic density. Improving memory efficiency requires operation at higher optical depths, where undesired effects such as four-wave mixing (FWM) become enhanced and can spontaneously produce a new optical mode (Stokes field). We present the results of experimental and theoretical investigations of the FWM-EIT interaction under continuous-wave (cw), slow light, and stored light conditions. In particular, we provide evidence that indicates that while a Stokes field is generated upon retrieval of the signal field, any information originally encoded in a seeded Stokes field is not independently preserved during the storage process. We present a simple model that describes the propagation dynamics and provides an intuitive description of the EIT-FWM process.

Abstract We report on the observation of efficient light storage based on recoil-induced resonances and the associated generation of forward four-wave mixing signal. We use a strong coupling beam red-detuned from the closed transition

6S_{1/2}, F=4\rightarrow6P_{3/2}, F^{\prime}=5

of cold cesium atom and a two-mode probe beam, whose frequency can be scanned around the coupling beam frequency. First, we demonstrate the coherent phase transfer from one mode component of the probe beam to the corresponding forward generated four-wave mixing beam. We then explore the coherent nature of the stored optical information to retrieve the two-mode probe energy with an efficiency 3.5 fold higher as compared with the total retrieved energy efficiency associated with the case where each mode component of the probe acts separately. Finally, we discuss a possible application of our experimental scheme and observed effects to investigate squeezing and quantum photon correlations.

We experimentally investigate the transfer of orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light in a solid driven by electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Under the condition of dynamical EIT, the OAM of the probe pulse is stored and retrieved in the experimental medium. By using a four-level double-lambda system to control the retrieval process of EIT storage, we show that OAM can be transferred from the probe field or the second control field to the newly generated signal field, which has a new spatial-frequency mode compared with the input mode. Furthermore, we use EIT-based four-wave mixing to investigate the direct OAM transfer without experiencing the storage, where we do not need to switch off and back on the control field.

Abstract We report an experimental demonstration of efficient light storage based on a modified technique of electromagnetically induced transparency in hot rubidium vapor. By introducing an auxiliary pump field to go beyond the Λ -type configuration, we find that the undesired four-wave mixing can be greatly suppressed to result in sufficiently reduced energy loss of a probe pulse. The light storage efficiency can be as high as ∼80% within the storage time of 100 ns with the pump field applied, which is almost 6 times larger than that in the absence of the pump field. We may also amend the light storage efficiency in a linear way by increasing the optical depth of our atomic vapor even without saturation effect. We obtain, in fact, an amplified probe pulse via Raman gain during light storage and retrieval, which should have practical applications in classical and quantum information processing.