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Physical Review Letters

Nonlinear Magneto-optics and Reduced Group Velocity of Light in Atomic Vapor with Slow Ground State Relaxation

Dmitry Budker, Derek F. Jackson Kimball, Simon Rochester, Valeriy V. Yashchuk

Published Aug 30, 1999• 623 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The dynamics of resonant light propagation in rubidium vapor in a cell with antirelaxation wall coating are investigated. We change the polarization of the input light and measure the time dependence of the polarization after the cell. The observed dynamics are shown to be analogous to those in electromagnetically induced transparency. Spectral dependence of light pulse delays is found to be similar to that of nonlinear magneto-optic rotation. Delays up to $\ensuremath{\approx}13\mathrm{ms}$ are observed, corresponding to a $8\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}$ group velocity. Fields of a few microgauss are used to control the group velocity.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.83.1767

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The dynamics of resonant light propagation in rubidium vapor in a cell with antirelaxation wall coating are investigated. We change the polarization of the input light and measure the time dependence of the polarization after the cell. The observed dynamics are shown to be analogous to those in electromagnetically induced transparency. Spectral dependence of light pulse delays is found to be similar to that of nonlinear magneto-optic rotation. Delays up to \ensuremath≈13ms\ensuremath{\approx}13\mathrm{ms}\ensuremath≈13ms are observed, corresponding to a 8m/s8\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}8m/s group velocity. Fields of a few microgauss are used to control the group velocity.
We experimentally studied Zeeman electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonances and slow light propagation in hot Rb vapor. Propagation of weak σ− polarized light pulses in the presence of stronger σ+ polarized background through Rb vapor was realized using a single laser beam and the Pockels cell. The dependences of slow light group velocity and fractional pulse delay on the overall laser beam intensity and temporal pulse length showed that lower optical power and longer light pulses lead to improved EIT and slow light features. The connection between EIT and slow light was also investigated showing that narrower and more contrasted EIT resonances are necessary for further decreasing a group velocity.
Preliminary results from an experimental study of slow light in anti-relaxation-coated Rb vapour cells are presented, and the construction and testing of such cells are described. The slow ground state decoherence rate allowed by coated cell walls leads to a dual-structured electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectrum with a very narrow (< 100 Hz) transparency peak on top of a broad pedestal. Such dual-structured EIT permits optical probe pulses to propagate with greatly reduced group velocity on two time scales. Ongoing efforts to optimize the pulse delay in such coated cell systems are discussed.
Experiments on hot rubidium vapor as an atomic medium with electromagnetically induced transparency for radiation of 795 nm wavelength (D1 absorption line of rubidium) are reported.Propagation of light pulses with velocity reduced to 11.5 km/s has been observed with a significant modification of the shape of square input pulses to adapt to the spectral window of induced transparency.So-called light storage, i.e. suspension of the propagation of light pulses in the medium by temporary turn-off of the electromagnetically induced transparency state was also demonstrated."Storage" periods of several microseconds, limited by relatively fast relaxation of atomic spin polarization in the volume of interaction of atoms with radiation, were obtained.
Results of a fairly straightforward experiment on resonant magneto-optical rotation by rubidium-87 atoms revealed strong time-dependence of the polarization plane of light emerging from atomic vapors following a sudden irradiation with a laser beam. The rotation of the plane appears as a not direct consequence of the influence of the magnetic field on atoms. Reported measurements conducted using a vapor cell without any buffer gas or an anti-relaxation wall coating show that transmitted light has initially the same (linear) polarization as the incident one. Rotation of the polarization plane caused by an axial magnetic field develops in time scales similar to the pace of establishing the optical pumping/relaxation equilibrium in the atomic ensemble. The traditional passive Faraday rotation picture providing working description for the resonant magneto-optical effects in steady-state conditions does not explain the observed sequence of evolution of the polarization. The picture has to be augmented with analysis of time dependence in the spatial distribution of relevant quantum states within the atomic ensemble as well as longitudinal and transversal intensity profiles of the light beam. Isolation of external effects caused by the optical pumping and relaxation processes from consequences of internal atomic coherences should uncover more details of mechanisms of the latter in the presence of magnetic field. Plentitude of data available from time-dependent polarization measurements provides strong incentives for further development and tests of comprehensive models of coherent interactions of atomic ensembles with radiation and possibly a base for additional advance in understanding and applications of these phenomena.