Summary form only given. Slow light has been explored for building quantum networks, with particular interest in slowing the group velocity of single photons [1], and more recently exploited to enhance the measurement of small phase shifts. Generally, slow-light effects have been characterized as the net effect of a pulse propagating through the slow-light medium, i.e., as a pulse delay time Δt measured with a fast photodiode at the output of the medium [2]. In this work, we use a single-photon imaging camera to observe slow light in situ, and thus provide a direct measurement of spatial pulse compression and temporal dispersion as the pulse travels through the slow light medium, in this case a hyperfine absorption doublet in hot Rb vapor. Our method combines light-in-flight imaging techniques with a camera comprised of an array of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD camera) [3] to image the photons scattered by the Rb vapor in the direction of the camera as shown in Fig. 1(a). In addition, the single photon nature of the SPAD detector allows us to obtain a measurement of the single photon group velocity. As shown in Fig. 1(c) and (d), we observe a significant delay, on the order of nanoseconds, in the detection of the photons scattered when the pulse first enters the slow-light medium. This lag in scattered-photon arrival time is a direct visualization of the slowing down of the single-photon group velocity. The pulses used here had a temporal full width at half maximum (FWHM) of τ ~1 ns, with measured group velocities as low as vg~ 0.006c. At these low group velocities we observe a full fractional pulse delay of up to F D = Δt/τ ~ 40 over 7 cm of propagation, and F D ~ 5 for the scattered single photons, which propagate through ~ 1 cm of Rb vapor prior to exiting the cell en-route to the camera.
Summary form only given. Slow light has been explored for building quantum networks, with particular interest in slowing the group velocity of single photons [1], and more recently exploited to enhance the measurement of small phase shifts. Generally, slow-light effects have been characterized as the net effect of a pulse propagating through the slow-light medium, i.e., as a pulse delay time Δt measured with a fast photodiode at the output of the medium [2]. In this work, we use a single-photon imaging camera to observe slow light in situ, and thus provide a direct measurement of spatial pulse compression and temporal dispersion as the pulse travels through the slow light medium, in this case a hyperfine absorption doublet in hot Rb vapor. Our method combines light-in-flight imaging techniques with a camera comprised of an array of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPAD camera) [3] to image the photons scattered by the Rb vapor in the direction of the camera as shown in Fig. 1(a). In addition, the single photon nature of the SPAD detector allows us to obtain a measurement of the single photon group velocity. As shown in Fig. 1(c) and (d), we observe a significant delay, on the order of nanoseconds, in the detection of the photons scattered when the pulse first enters the slow-light medium. This lag in scattered-photon arrival time is a direct visualization of the slowing down of the single-photon group velocity. The pulses used here had a temporal full width at half maximum (FWHM) of τ 1 ns, with measured group velocities as low as vg 0.006c. At these low group velocities we observe a full fractional pulse delay of up to F D = Δt/τ ~ 40 over 7 cm of propagation, and F D ~ 5 for the scattered single photons, which propagate through ~ 1 cm of Rb vapor prior to exiting the cell en-route to the camera.
Slow-light media are of interest in the context of quantum computing and enhanced measurement of quantum effects, with particular emphasis on using slow light with single photons. We use light-in-flight imaging with a single-photon avalanche diode camera array to image in situ pulse propagation through a slow-light medium consisting of heated rubidium vapor. Light-in-flight imaging of slow-light propagation enables direct visualization of a series of physical effects, including simultaneous observation of spatial pulse compression and temporal pulse dispersion. Additionally, the single-photon nature of the camera allows for observation of the group velocity of single photons with measured single-photon fractional delays greater than 1 over 1 cm of propagation.
Summary form only given. The recent observation of slow light propagation by Harris and Hau (1999) motivates the study of nonlinear optical processes under conditions where slow group velocity, or equivalently large nonlinearity, is the dominant feature of the problem. By combining electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and cold atom technology, a sharp resonance is created with a transmission linewidth much less than the natural linewidth of the atoms. A pulse of light propagating in this medium has a phase velocity of c and a group velocity that can be less than 10/sup -7/ c. As a light pulse of sufficiently wide bandwidth enters a cold-atom, EIT medium, the pulse shape, electric field strength, and power density remain nominally unchanged. Concurrently, because the group velocity is decreased, the stored energy per volume must increase. This increase occurs by spatial compression of the travelling pulse. A pulse measuring 300 m in free space compresses to 30 /spl mu/m within the cold-atom medium.
Slow light is light that travels at unusual, extreme group velocities—sometimes as slow as walking speed or slower. Light waves can be described by many velocities, but for a narrow-band pulse of light (a carrier frequency modulated by an envelope), the group velocity is the speed of the pulse envelope. The term slow light also encompasses other exotic group velocities due to similar techniques, including fast light, stopped light, and backwards light. The science of slow light has been established over the past several years, and research attention is now turning to potential applications of slow light. One application of slow light is as an all-optical true-time delay. Two slow light methods in optical fibers, stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) and dispersive delay, are used to provide a controllable pulse delay in a prototype slow-light phased-array laser radar, called SLIDAR. These slow light methods compensate the group delay mismatch of pulses of 6 ns duration while the phased array is steered in two dimensions. A phase control system is described that maintains phase lock among three signal channels and a reference channel, each containing 2.2 km of optical fiber, while accommodating the demands of the slow light techniques. Residual phase error is kept below π /5 radians (1/10 wave) RMS. Slow light can also enhance the spectral sensitivity of spectrometers and interferometers. A design for a slow-light-enhanced nanophotonic spectrometer is presented. One important use of spectrometers is to detect specific chemicals, and I describe an approach to multivariate optical computation, which can be used for automatic chemical spectrum recognition. This technique, which could one day be implemented with a slow-light-enhanced spectrometer as a single-chip chemical detection platform, is explored experimentally in the visible spectrum using a spatial light modulator.
The group velocity at which light pulses propagate through a dispersive material system is very different from the vacuum speed of light c, One refers to light as being "slow" for v g << c (Boyd & Gauthier, 2009) or "fast" for v g > c or v g <0 (Stenner et al, 2003 ).For v g <0, the pulse envelope appears to travel backward in the material (Gehring et al, 2006), and hence it is sometimes referred to as "backward light."The subject of slow light has caused keen interest in the past decade or more, and it is possible to control the group velocity of light pulses in the dispersive materials.Interest in slow and fast light dates back to the early days of the 20th century.Sommerfeld and Brillouin (Sommerfeld & Brillouin, 1960) were intrigued by the fact that theory predicts that v g can exceed c, which leads to apparent inconsistencies with Einstein's special theory of relativity.Experimental investigations of extreme propagation velocities were performed soon after the invention of the laser (Faxvog and et al, 1970).In 1999, Harris's group research work greatly stimulated researchers' interests, which showed that light could be slowed down to 17m/s.The result was obtained in ultra cold atom clouds with the use of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), which induces transparency in a material while allowing it to retain strong linear and nonlinear optical properties (Hau et al, 1999).Slow light can also be obtained through the use of the optical response of hot atomic vapors (Philips et al, 2001).These early research works require hard conditions and the slow light cannot operate in room temperature.Recently, researchers found ways to realize slow light operating in room temperature and solid-state materials, which are more suited for many practical applications, namely slow light via stimulated Brillouin scattering(SBS), slow light via coherent population oscillations (CPO), tunable time delays based on group velocity dispersion or conversion/ dispersion(C/D), slow light in fiber Bragg gratings and so on.In this chapter, we describe some of the physical mechanisms that can be used to induce slow and fast light effects in room-temperature solids (Bigelow et al, 2003) and some of the exotic propagation effects that can thereby be observed.We also survey some applications of slow and fast light within the fields of quantum electronics and photonics. Fundamentals of slow and fast lightSlow and fast light refer to the group velocity of a light wave.The group velocity is the velocity most closely related to the velocity at which the peak of a light pulse moves through an optical dispersive material (Milonni, 2005), and is given by the standard result www.intechopen.comRecent Progress in Optical Fiber Research 82where n is the refractive (phase) index and ω is the angular frequency of the carrier wave of the light field.One refers to light as being slow light for v g << c, fast light for for v g > c, and backwards light for v g <0 or v g is negative.Extreme values of the group velocity invariably rely on the dominance of the second contribution to the group index of Equation ( 1).This contribution of course results from the frequency dependence of the refractive index, and for this reason extreme values of the group velocity are usually associated with the resonant or near-resonant response of material systems.According to this theory, slow light is expected in the wings of an absorption line and fast light is expected near line center, and the spatial dispersion, that is, the non-locality in space of the medium response, is another mechanism that can lead to slow light, as has been predicted (Kocharovskaya et al,2001) and observed (Strekalov et al, 2001).We catalogue the main methods to realize slow light in room temperature solid, namely slow light via stimulated Brillouin scattering(SBS), slow light via coherent population oscillations (CPO), tunable time delays based on group velocity dispersion or conversion/ dispersion(C/D), slow light in fiber Bragg gratings and so on.We will describe CPO and SBS slow light in more details.
Summary form only given. The propagation of light in a dispersive medium is characterized by the group velocity /spl nu//sub g/=c(n+/spl nu//sup dn//d/spl nu/)/sup .1/ where n is the refractive index and /spl nu/ the optical frequency. Depending on the sign and magnitude of /sup dn//d/spl nu/ in the medium, the group velocity can be positive, infinite or negative. The group velocity corresponds to the speed of the propagation of the maximum of an optical pulse travelling into the medium. This remains true whether the dispersion in the medium is normal (/sup dn//d/spl nu/>0) or anomalous (/sup dn//d/spl nu/<0). It has been demonstrated that coherently prepared atomic systems can exhibit steep dispersion leading to small absolute values of the group velocity (slow light). In recent work, we have demonstrated that narrow resonances arising from the coherent interaction of two optical fields with a closed atomic transition between two degenerate levels may correspond to a steep anomalous dispersion and thus to slow and negative group velocity. We report on the experimental study of the propagation of an amplitude modulated wave in a medium presenting negative group velocity.
Summary form only given. Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) has been the subject of many experimental and theoretical studies over recent years. Most recently, substantial experimental and theoretical work in this area has been focused on the use of EIT to give ultraslow group velocities for light in both ultracold atomic gas and hot atomic vapors. Much of this interest is based on the fact that slowing the group velocity of a laser pulse down to the speed of sound in the same material can produce strong coupling between acoustic waves and the electromagnetic field. It has been suggested that a giant nonlinearity obtained by this method might be utilized for efficient multi-wave mixing and quantum nondemolition measurements. Slow light might also allow a very efficient nonlinear interaction between laser pulses of extremely low (down to a single photon) energies. Here, we report the first direct observation of an ultraslow group velocity of light down to 45 m/s in a solid, well below the speed of sound in the medium. This group velocity is fundamentally limited only by the inhomogeneous broadening of the ground state transition. At low coupling beam intensities, the fraction of centers that are pumped into the "dark state" increases with coupling laser power, so that the observed group delay is increasing with coupling beam intensity. At higher intensities, power broadening reduces the sharpness of the dispersive feature and the observed group delay decreases.