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arXiv:1706.08208 · Quantum Science and Technology

Direct imaging of slow, stored and stationary EIT polaritons

Geoff Campbell, Young‐Wook Cho, Jian Su, Jesse L. Everett, Nicholas P. Robins, Ping Koy Lam, B. C. Buchler

Published Jul 17, 2017• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Stationary and slow light effects are of great interest for quantum information applications. Using laser-cooled Rb87 atoms, we performed side imaging of our atomic ensemble under slow and stationary light conditions, which allows direct comparison with numerical models. The polaritons were generated using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), with stationary light generated using counter-propagating control fields. By controlling the power ratio of the two control fields, we show fine control of the group velocity of the stationary light. We also compare the dynamics of stationary light using monochromatic and bichromatic control fields. Our results show negligible difference between the two situations, in contrast to previous work in EIT-based systems.

DOI
10.1088/2058-9565/aa7821

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•Jan 1, 2011•0 citations
Stationary and slow light effects are of great interest for quantum information applications. Using laser-cooled Rb87 atoms, we performed side imaging of our atomic ensemble under slow and stationary light conditions, which allows direct comparison with numerical models. The polaritons were generated using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), with stationary light generated using counter-propagating control fields. By controlling the power ratio of the two control fields, we show fine control of the group velocity of the stationary light. We also compare the dynamics of stationary light using monochromatic and bichromatic control fields. Our results show negligible difference between the two situations, in contrast to previous work in EIT-based systems.
Abstract When ensembles of atoms interact with coherent light fields, a great many interesting and useful effects can be observed. In particular, the group velocity of the coherent fields can be modified dramatically. Electromagnetically induced transparency is perhaps the best known example, giving rise to very slow light. Careful tuning of the optical fields can also produce stored light where a light field is mapped completely into a coherence of the atomic ensemble. In contrast to stored light, in which the optical field is extinguished, stationary light is a bright field of light with a group velocity of zero. Stationary light has applications in situations where it is important to maintain an optical field, such as attempts to engineer large nonlinear interactions. In this paper, the stationary light demonstrations published to date are reviewed and a unified theoretical framework that describes the experimental observations is provided. Possible applications of stationary light are also discussed, with a particular focus on all‐optical phase gates for quantum information technology.
For all known massive particles, the value of the magnetic dipole moment is different from zero. In contrast, photons in vacuum have no magnetic moment. Here, we describe experimental studies that show that light, when transmitted through a dense atomic medium under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), can behave as if it has acquired a magnetic dipole moment. In the area of solid-state physics, such effective particle properties (e.g. effective masses) are well known. In our experiments, slow light passing through a rubidium gas cell is deflected when exposed to a magnetic field gradient. The beam deflection is proportional to the propagation time through the cell and can be understood by assuming that dark-state polaritons have a nonzero effective magnetic moment aligned collinearly to the optical propagation axis. In more recent experiments, we have studied different dark-state configurations. We observe EIT, slow group velocities and stored light in a transverse magnetic field configuration, where the moving magnetic dipole is directed orthogonal to the optical propagation axis. The latter can be used for further studies of the quasiparticle properties of dark-state polaritons.
We analyze the energy storage process of light propagating with slow group velocity in a sample where electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is created by a strong coupling field. We compare the formation of slow light in EIT and in self-induced transparency (SIT). For SIT, soliton-like propagation of light with essentially reduced group velocity takes place because of the temporary storage of an appreciable part of the pulse energy in the atoms. For EIT, no energy of the probe is stored in the atoms. This energy is transformed to the coupling field and leaves the sample with phase velocity c without absorption. Slow light is formed by a low frequency coherence induced at the input by the probe and coupling fields in a two-quantum excitation process. This coherence propagates as a “spin wave” with small group velocity, and at a large distance from the input, the coherence rules the process of the energy transformation from the coupling field to the probe, reproducing exactly the temporal profile of the probe at the input.
The optical properties of a five-level atomic system composed of a 'Lambda'-type four-level atomic and a tripod four-level atomic systems are investigated. It is found that the behaviors of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and group velocity can be controlled by choosing appropriate parameters with the interacting dark resonances. In particular, when all the fields are on resonance, the slow light at the symmetric transparency windows with a much broader EIT width is obtained by tuning the intensity of the coupling field in comparison with its sub-system, which provides potential applications in quantum storage and retrieval of light.
We consider adiabatic propagation of a pair of quantized light pulses in a coherently prepared atomic medium with the tripod level configuration. We find that under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency, two distinct polariton modes are simultaneously formed in the medium. These polaritons, represented by certain coherent superpositions of the quantized fields, have different group velocities; the fast one propagates at essentially the speed of light, while the group velocity of the slow polariton can be dynamically reduced to zero. The state mapping between the electromagnetic field and atomic ensemble is also demonstrated.
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.