Storing Light in the Dark

Alexander Carmele

N. Vivian Pope

Chong Shou, Guoxiang Huang

We show that stable slow-light dark solitons with finite continuous-wave background can be generated in a Λ -type atomic system via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We also show that such dark solitons can be stored and retrieved with high efficiency and fidelity. Moreover, an optical routing of them can be realized via EIT in the system with a double- Λ -type level configuration.

Ian S. Osborne

Quantum Optics An excited atom will naturally decay to the ground state, with the exciting and emitted photons forming the basis for the optical protocols in quantum communication and computation. Within an ensemble of atoms, this emission process can proceed constructively, resulting in faster ensemble decay in an effect known as superradiance. In contrast to the superradiant process, Ferioli et al. report subradiance in an ensemble of excited rubidium atoms, where collective behavior between the decaying atoms proceeds destructively, thereby extending the lifetime of the excited atom ensemble in what can be described as a dark state. Engineering such dark states could provide a route to storing light. The reduced linewidth could also be useful in metrology applications. Phys. Rev. X 11 , 021031 (2021).

Bernhard W. Adams

Eric Cornell