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Acta Physica Sinica

Experimental study of the effects of two-photon detuning on slow light and light memory

Yan Yan, 李淑静 LI Shu-jing, Tian Long, Wang Hai

Published Jan 1, 2016• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect is an effective means to store light field into the atom ensemble. The extra noise introduced in the stored procedure can be suppressed greatly under the condition of large one-photon detuning and proper two-photon detuning. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the slow light and light storage in 87Rb vapor by using EIT effect, and study the effects of the two-photon detuning on light pulse delay and light memory at 650 MHz one-photon red detuning. In order to avoid some unwanted effects under the high optical depth condition, such as four-wave mixing, etc., the temperature of the atomic cell is controlled at 65 degrees Celsius. The experimental results show that the delay and the retrieval signals are significant in a two-photon detuning range from 0 to 0.5 MHz. The pulse delay decreases with the increase of two-photon detuning. The delay is 0.36 ups at two-photon resonance, and it is 0.07 ups at 1 MHz two-photon detuning. We simulate the delayed light pulse by using a three-level -type EIT model. The shapes of the measured slow light are in agreement with the theoretical results. The retrieval signals are observed at different two-photon detunings. The shapes of the retrieval pulses change with the two-photon detuning. The shape variations of the retrieval pulses cannot be explained by the three-level EIT theoretical model. By considering the atomic Zeeman sublevels interacting with the left-circular and right-circular polarized components of probe and coupling fields, multiple -type EIT systems will be formed. The interference between the retrieval signals from multiple EIT subsystems causes the shape distortions of retrieval pulses. The retrieval efficiency is measured as a function of two-photon detuning. The retrieval efficiency oscillates, and multiple peaks appear with the increase of two-photon detuning. The first peak appears at two-photon resonance, and the second peak appears at 0.48 MHz two-photon detuning. Finally, we measure the retrieval efficiency as a function of the coupling power at 0.48 MHz two-photon detuning. The optimal retrieval efficiency reaches 25% when the coupling power is 100 mW. These results provide experimental reference for the quantum memory of continuous variables in the hot atom ensemble.

DOI
10.7498/aps.65.014205

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Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect is an effective means to store light field into the atom ensemble. The extra noise introduced in the stored procedure can be suppressed greatly under the condition of large one-photon detuning and proper two-photon detuning. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the slow light and light storage in 87Rb vapor by using EIT effect, and study the effects of the two-photon detuning on light pulse delay and light memory at 650 MHz one-photon red detuning. In order to avoid some unwanted effects under the high optical depth condition, such as four-wave mixing, etc., the temperature of the atomic cell is controlled at 65 degrees Celsius. The experimental results show that the delay and the retrieval signals are significant in a two-photon detuning range from 0 to 0.5 MHz. The pulse delay decreases with the increase of two-photon detuning. The delay is 0.36 ups at two-photon resonance, and it is 0.07 ups at 1 MHz two-photon detuning. We simulate the delayed light pulse by using a three-level -type EIT model. The shapes of the measured slow light are in agreement with the theoretical results. The retrieval signals are observed at different two-photon detunings. The shapes of the retrieval pulses change with the two-photon detuning. The shape variations of the retrieval pulses cannot be explained by the three-level EIT theoretical model. By considering the atomic Zeeman sublevels interacting with the left-circular and right-circular polarized components of probe and coupling fields, multiple -type EIT systems will be formed. The interference between the retrieval signals from multiple EIT subsystems causes the shape distortions of retrieval pulses. The retrieval efficiency is measured as a function of two-photon detuning. The retrieval efficiency oscillates, and multiple peaks appear with the increase of two-photon detuning. The first peak appears at two-photon resonance, and the second peak appears at 0.48 MHz two-photon detuning. Finally, we measure the retrieval efficiency as a function of the coupling power at 0.48 MHz two-photon detuning. The optimal retrieval efficiency reaches 25% when the coupling power is 100 mW. These results provide experimental reference for the quantum memory of continuous variables in the hot atom ensemble.
We have observed the reduction of group velocity of light via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and measured the dependence of pulse delay on the one-photon detuning in a three-level Λ-type atomic system. The results show that due to the effect of Doppler broadening the light speed reduction is signif icant in a range of ±600MHz one-photon detuning. Under the condition of consid ering the Doppler shift of frequency, the pulse delay as a function of the one-p hoton detuning is numerically calculated. The experimental measurements are in g ood agreement with the theoretical results. These researches provide theoretical and experimental references for controlling the group velocity of light by mean s of one-photon detuning.
The recent prospect of efficient, reliable, and secure quantum communication relies on the ability to coherently and reversibly map nonclassical states of light onto long-lived atomic states. A promising technique that accomplishes this employs Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), in which a strong classical control field modifies the optical properties of a weak signal field in such a way that a previously opaque medium becomes transparent to the signal field. The accompanying steep dispersion in the index of refraction allows for pulses of light to be decelerated, then stored as an atomic excitation, and later retrieved as a photonic mode. This dissertation presents the results of investigations into methods for optimizing the memory efficiency of this process in an ensemble of hot Rb atoms. We have experimentally demonstrated the effectiveness of two protocols for yielding the best memory efficiency possible at a given atomic density. Improving memory efficiency requires operation at higher optical depths, where undesired effects such as four-wave mixing (FWM) become enhanced and can spontaneously produce a new optical mode (Stokes field). We present the results of experimental and theoretical investigations of the FWM-EIT interaction under continuous-wave (cw), slow light, and stored light conditions. In particular, we provide evidence that indicates that while a Stokes field is generated upon retrieval of the signal field, any information originally encoded in a seeded Stokes field is not independently preserved during the storage process. We present a simple model that describes the propagation dynamics and provides an intuitive description of the EIT-FWM process.
We investigate the storage of light in an atomic sample with a Lambda-type coupling scheme driven by optical fields at variable two-photon detuning. In the presence of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), light is stored and retrieved from the sample by dynamically varying the group velocity. It is found that for any two-photon detuning of the input light pulse within the EIT transparency window, the carrier frequency of the retrieved light pulse matches the two-photon resonance frequency with the atomic ground state transition and the control field. This effect which is not based on spectral filtering is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It can be used for high-speed precision measurements of the two-photon resonance as employed, e.g., in optical magnetometry.
In this thesis we study light-matter coherence phenomena related to the interaction of a coherent laser field and the so-called Λ-system, a three-level quantum system (e.g., an atom). We observe electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), slow and stored light in hot rubidium vapor. For example, a 6 μs Gaussian pulse propagate at a velocity of ~1 km/s (to be compared with the normal velocity of 300 000 km/s). Dynamic changes of the control parameter allows us to slow down a pulse to a complete stop, store it for ~100 μs, and then release it. During the storage time, and also during the release process, some properties of the light pulse can be changed, e.g., frequency chirping of the pulse is obtained by means of Zeeman shifting the energy levels of the Λ-system. If, bichromatic continuous light fields are applied we observe overtone generation in the beating signal, and a narrow `dip' in overtone generation efficiency on two-photon resonance, narrower than the `coherent population trapping' transparency. The observed light-matter coherence phenomena are explained theoretically from first principles, using the Lindblad master equation, in conjunction with the Maxwell's equations. Furthermore, we analyze an optical delay-line based on EIT and show that there is in principle (besides decoherence) no fundamental limitation, but the usefulness today is scant. The combination of EIT and a photonic crystal cavity is inquired into, and we show that the quality value of a small resonator (area of 2.5λ×2.5λ with a missing central rod) can be enhanced by a factor of 500 due to the increased modal density close to two-photon resonance. Open system effects (decoherence effects) are thoroughly investigated using a coherence vector formalism, furthermore, a vector form of the Lindblad equation is derived. Specifically we find an open system channel that lead to slow light and gain.
This thesis set out to investigate light storage based on dynamic electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a room-temperature atomic ensemble of rubidium as a means to provide a quantum memory for single-photons created by a single rubidium atom coupled to a high-finesse optical resonator. Setting up the light storage medium presented a new addition to the research group's portfolio of experimental techniques and led to investigations of EIT, slow light and stored light in warm rubidium-87 vapour. Lambda level schemes connecting Zeeman or hyperfine substates on the D1 and D2 lines were addressed in rubidium vapour cells containing different buffer gases and different isotopic fractions of rubidium-87 and rubidium-85. Single beam spectroscopy with a weak probe was used to characterise the vapour cells. A numerical method to fit the D line spectrum to a theoretical model to include isotopic fractions and collisional broadening of a buffer gas has been implemented. Temperature and isotopic fractions could be reliably extracted from the fit parameters. For an offset-stabilisation of two lasers to address a lambda level scheme connecting the two different hyperfine groundstates in rubidium a phase locked loop including a frequency divider has been designed and implemented. Light storage and retrieval has been demonstrated using a Zeeman scheme on the D1 line. Two microsecond long classical light pulses containing one million photons on average were stored and retrieved with an efficiency of 15% after a delay of one microsecond. Several methods of attenuating the strong co-propagating control laser beam to allow for lowering the signal pulse intensity in future experiments are discussed.
Abstract This paper reviews recent efforts to realize a high‐efficiency memory for optical pulses using slow and stored light based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in ensembles of warm atoms in vapor cells. After a brief summary of basic continuous‐wave and dynamic EIT properties, studies using weak classical signal pulses in optically dense coherent media are discussed, including optimization strategies for stored light efficiency and pulse‐shape control, and modification of EIT and slow/stored light spectral properties due to atomic motion. Quantum memory demonstrations using both single photons and pulses of squeezed light are then reviewed. Finally a brief comparison with other approaches is presented.