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Slow and Fast Light (SL)

Influence of incoherent pumping on slow light propagation in rubidium atomic vapor

Andrey B. Matsko, Dmitry Strekalov, Anatoliy A. Savchenkov, Lute Maleki

Published Jan 1, 2006• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We theoretically study influence of incoherent pumping on slow light propagation in rubidium atomic vapor. The pumping reduces the residual unwanted absorption of the light in the medium on one hand, and destroys the atomic coherence on the other. We show that the pumping allows to increase dynamic range of the system compared with the usual slow light system.

DOI
10.1364/sl.2006.tud3

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We theoretically study influence of incoherent pumping on slow light propagation in rubidium atomic vapor. The pumping reduces the residual unwanted absorption of the light in the medium on one hand, and destroys the atomic coherence on the other. We show that the pumping allows to increase dynamic range of the system compared with the usual slow light system.
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We report an experimental realization of the delayed images in a hot rubidium atomic vapor. With a rubidium atomic vapor cell as slow light medium, the image quality of the experiment could be improved greatly, compared with the results without a slow light medium. By analyzing the results about the image visibility of the slow light imaging system under three different conditions, the image visibility becomes better with the increment of the temperature, during the time that the wavelength of the laser is within dispersion range.
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Dispersion and absorption properties of a weak probe field in a three-level V-type atomic system is studied. By application of indirect incoherent pump fields the effect of populating upper levels on optical properties of the atomic medium in presence of a strong coherent pump field is investigated. It is shown that the slope of dispersion changes from positive to negative just by changing the intensity of the coherent or indirect incoherent pump fields. It is demonstrated that the absorption-free subluminal and superluminal light propagation appears in this system.