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Optics Letters

Magnetically induced simultaneous slow and fast light

Bin Luo, Yu Liu, Hong Mei Guo

Published Dec 24, 2009• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A Lambda-type atom coupled by a driving light field and an rf field is restudied. It shows that, owing to Autler-Townes splitting caused by the driving light field and the magnetic dipole transition caused by the rf field, the medium shows distinct characteristics and exhibits the simultaneous slow and fast light at two frequencies. This effect can be attained by simply increasing the magnetic field and making its Rabi frequency much stronger than the probe light. Also, slow and fast light can be converted flexibly between two frequencies by phase control of the rf field.

DOI
10.1364/ol.35.000064

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A Lambda-type atom coupled by a driving light field and an rf field is restudied. It shows that, owing to Autler-Townes splitting caused by the driving light field and the magnetic dipole transition caused by the rf field, the medium shows distinct characteristics and exhibits the simultaneous slow and fast light at two frequencies. This effect can be attained by simply increasing the magnetic field and making its Rabi frequency much stronger than the probe light. Also, slow and fast light can be converted flexibly between two frequencies by phase control of the rf field.
We present a semiclassical theory for light deflection by a coherent $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type three-level atomic medium in an inhomogeneous magnetic field or an inhomogeneous control laser. When the atomic energy levels (or the Rabi coupling by the control laser) are position-dependent due to the Zeeman effect caused by the inhomogeneous magnetic field (or due to inhomogeneity of the control field profile), the spatial dependence of the refraction index of the atomic medium will result in an observable deflection of slow signal light when the electromagnetically induced transparency cancels medium absorption. Our theoretical approach based on Fermat's principle in geometrical optics not only provides a consistent explanation for the most recent experiment in a straightforward way, but also predicts the two-photon detuning dependent behaviors and larger deflection angles by three orders of magnitude for the slow signal light deflection by the atomic media in an inhomogeneous off-resonant control laser field.
We theoretically investigate the optical response of a degenerate four-level Λ\LambdaΛ-type atomic system under the influence of an external magnetic field. The applied magnetic field lifts the degeneracy of the ground sublevels via the Zeeman effect, thereby altering the two-photon resonance conditions for electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) formation and causing the atomic response to evolve from single-EIT to double-EIT, accompanied by shifts in the EIT positions. Such variations in the EIT positions result in corresponding changes in the dispersion and group index curves, allowing the selection of desired frequency regions for different response regimes. As a result, the system can switch between transparency and absorption, as well as between slow and fast light. These findings highlight the feasibility of controlling light propagation via magnetic field, with potential applications in optical switching and quantum information technologies.
Summary form only given. If in general the transparency of an initially absorbing medium for a probe field is increased by the presence of a control field on an adjacent transition, two very different processes can be invoked to explain it. One of them is a quantum Fano interference between two paths in the three-level system, which occurs even at low control intensity and gives rise to electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT), the other one is the appearance of two dressed states in the excited level at higher control intensity, corresponding to the Autler-Townes splitting (ATS). This distinction is particularly critical for instance for the implementation of slow light or optical quantum memories. In a recent paper, P. M. Anisimov, J. P. Dowling and B. C. Sanders proposed a quantitative test to objectively discerning ATS from EIT. We experimentally investigated this test with cold atoms and demonstrated that it is very sensitive to the specific properties of the medium. In this study, we use an ensemble of cold Cesium atoms trapped in a MOT, interacting with light via a Λ-type scheme on the D2 line. Absorption profiles are obtained for various values of the control Rabi frequency Ω between 0.1Γ and 4Γ, where Γ is the natural linewidth.
Dispersion properties of an optical medium can be greatly changed using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and other nonlinear effects. Thus, the group velocity of light pulse can be much smaller (greater or even negative) than light speed in vacuum, which is called slow (fast) light. Slow and fast light are very useful in optical processing, such as optical buffer, switching, and storage devices. Usually, slow and fast light cannot be generated simultaneously in the same medium. In this paper, we propose applicable level structures to generate controllable slow and fast light simultaneously at two frequencies, with the same polarization.