A novel method to control the group velocity of light propagation in a two-level atomic system without additional optical field is proposed. Numerical result and experimental data shows that by changing the magnetic field intensity and vapor temperature, the group velocity of probe light can be controlled in an appropriate region.
Abstract We proposed a simple model for investigating subluminal and superluminal light propagation via an external magnetic field in an inhomogeneously broadened degenerate two-level atomic medium. We show that a magnetic field can be utilized as a knob to control the absorption/dispersion properties and group index of the medium. By changing the magnitude and reversing the direction of the magnetic field, the positive group index is converted to the negative group index at the center of the EIT window, corresponding with the propagation of a weak light pulse from subluminal to superluminal. Moreover, the influence of the Doppler broadening effect on the group index is also included, making the results approach to actual conditions. Therefore, the suggested model may be helpful for the application realization of optical storage in quantum computers and quantum information processing.
We investigate the use of a magnetic field, in conjunction with an elliptically polarized laser field, to control the group velocity of light in an inhomogeneously broadened medium. We show both theoretically and experimentally that the dispersion and hence, the speed of light in an atomic system, having V-configuration with Zeeman sublevels as their excited states, can be effectively controlled magneto-optically. We present approximate analytical solutions for a homogeneously broadened medium and numerical solutions for both a homogeneously and an inhomogeneously broadened medium. We show that while one can tune the speed of light from subluminal to superluminal with the magnetic field in a static or cooled medium with V-type atoms, in hot atoms one can achieve an efficient magneto-optical tunability in the subluminal regime. We experimentally demonstrate such control of light speed using a single elliptically polarized light and a moderately strong magnetic field in a 87Rb vapor cell. We propose to use the optical field for coarse control and the magnetic field for finer control of the light speed in an atomic medium.
Abstract The present study addresses light propagation in both the positive- and negative-group-index regimes in a degenerate atomic system with four energy levels. Both the static magnetic field and the Doppler shifts play essential roles. Operating in an electromagnetically induced transparency configuration, we demonstrate that probe absorption characteristics and the group velocity index can be manipulated by combined control of the static magnetic field and two coupling laser fields. By selectively engaging one or both coupling fields, the magnetic field serves as a switching mechanism, toggling the atomic medium's optical behavior between transparent and absorptive states. Consequently, both the magnitude and sign of the group index can be adjusted, transitioning from positive to negative values or the reverse, based on whether the magnetic field is applied or removed. Additionally, temperature significantly influences both the optical properties and group index characteristics of the atomic medium. Given that our proposed system operates at room temperature, it is well-suited to practical experimental conditions and offers potential for deployment in optical storage technologies and quantum information processing applications.
A four-level atomic system interacting with two strong drive fields and a weak probe field has been studied. We demonstrate that the group velocity of probe field can be controlled to switch from subluminal to superluminal or even negative values around the probe resonance without any significant absorption. The basic idea is to create a gain with slow light on the probe beam resonance with one drive field while the other drive creates a dip in the gain profile of probe leading to superluminal and negative group velocities. A simple switching from slow light to negative group velocity light can be obtained by changing the relative intensities of drive fields. We also describe a control to tune the position of slow light frequency continuously simply by adjusting the relative intensities of both the driving fields.