Physical Review A
On-demand all-optical generation of controlled Rb-vapor densities in photonic-band-gap fibers
Amar R. Bhagwat, Aaron D. Slepkov, Vivek Venkataraman, Pablo Londero, Alexander L. Gaeta
Abstract
We investigate the time dynamics of light-induced desorption of Rb atoms in hollow-core photonic-band-gap fibers and demonstrate all-optical generation of precisely controlled Rb-vapor densities. We also compare the performance of the desorption process in an unmodified fiber with one with an organosilane-coated core, and based on the vapor depletion and recovery behavior, we propose a mechanism to describe the desorption processes. We further demonstrate that high densities of Rb vapor can be generated after the desorption beam is switched off and use it to realize $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-scheme electromagnetically induced transparency at control powers as low as 80 nW.