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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

Diffusion and self-similarity of stored light in vapor

Ofer Firstenberg, Rami Pugatch, M. Shuker, A. Ron, Nir Davidson

Published Jun 1, 2009• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The storage of light using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) has become a well-known technique, with an obvious prospect for future quantum information systems. Utilizing this unique light-matter interaction, the complex amplitude of a 'probe' pulse can be stored onto the ground-state coherence of room-temperature atomic ensemble and can be retrieved after a controllable delay. The storage fidelity is limited by decay mechanisms of the ground-state coherence. This paper presents the study of the spatial behavior of two- and three-dimensional probe fields, under the influence of the thermal atomic diffusion.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe-eqec.2009.5194803

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The storage of light using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) has become a well-known technique, with an obvious prospect for future quantum information systems. Utilizing this unique light-matter interaction, the complex amplitude of a 'probe' pulse can be stored onto the ground-state coherence of room-temperature atomic ensemble and can be retrieved after a controllable delay. The storage fidelity is limited by decay mechanisms of the ground-state coherence. This paper presents the study of the spatial behavior of two- and three-dimensional probe fields, under the influence of the thermal atomic diffusion.
Recent years have observed fast developments in neutral atomic vapor based quantum information storage technology. The technique utilizes light fields in the optical wavelength region as signal carrier and retriever and neutral atomic systems (e.g. single atoms, ensembles of atoms, atom-like defects in solids) as storage media. Photons are robust carriers of information due to their high velocity (c = 2.998 x 108 m/s) and ease of transportation (they propagate rectilinearly with low loss). Their high mobility, however, makes it a challenging task to spatially localize and therefore store them. Atoms (or atom-like systems), on the other hand, can be easily localized in space while providing quantum states accessible to photons and therefore are ideal candidates for storage media. Electromagnetically-induced transparency (EIT) is a light-induced atomic coherence phenomenon that dramatically modifies the optical properties of an atomic medium to a weak probe field by the application of a strong coupling field. As a probe pulse propagates in an EIT medium it experiences ultraslow group velocity and generates a copropagating spin wave. These consequences of EIT can be exploited for light pulse storage and retrieval in an atomic medium.
We experimentally report on the preservation of transverse spatial coherence in the storage of double light pulses by using a solid. Under electromagnetically induced transparency, two probe pulses are stored into atomic coherence between ground-state levels and later retrieved. By analyzing the Young-type spatial interference patterns formed by two probe fields before and after the storage, we demonstrate that transverse spatial coherence of the probe fields is preserved in the storage process. This demonstration can be used for image processing and multiple information manipulation.
Reversible and coherent storage of light in an atomic medium is a promising method with possible applications in many fields. In this work, arbitrary two-dimensional images are slowed and stored in warm atomic vapor for up to 30 micros, utilizing electromagnetically induced transparency. Both the intensity and the phase patterns of the optical field are maintained. The main limitation on the storage resolution and duration is found to be the diffusion of atoms. A technique analogous to phase-shift lithography is employed to diminish the effect of diffusion on the visibility of the reconstructed image.
We present a theoretical model for electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in vapor that incorporates atomic motion and velocity-changing collisions into the dynamics of the density-matrix distribution. Within a unified formalism, we demonstrate various motional effects, known for EIT in vapor: Doppler broadening of the absorption spectrum; Dicke narrowing and time-of-flight broadening of the transmission window for a finite-sized probe; diffusion of atomic coherence during storage of light and diffusion of the light-matter excitation during slow-light propagation; and Ramsey narrowing of the spectrum for a probe and pump beams of finite size.
We report slowed propagation and storage and retrieval of thermal light in warm rubidium vapor using the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We first demonstrate slowed propagation of the probe thermal light beam through an EIT medium by measuring the second-order correlation function of the light field using the Hanbury-Brown-Twiss interferometer. We also report an experimental study on the effect of the EIT slow-light medium on the temporal coherence of thermal light. Finally, we demonstrate the storage and retrieval of the thermal light beam in the EIT medium. The direct measurement of the photon number statistics of the retrieved light field shows that the photon number statistics are preserved during the storage and retrieval processes.