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Optics Express

Coherent trapping of an arbitrary photonic polarization state in a cold atomic ensemble as a stationary light pulse

Keonwoong Park, U-Shin Kim, Yoon-Ho Kim

Published Aug 24, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate coherent trapping of an arbitrary photonic polarization state as a stationary light pulse (SLP) within a cold 87 Rb atomic ensemble. The input polarization state is separated into two orthogonal polarization components, which are mapped onto two phase-matched path modes and simultaneously trapped as SLPs in a single cold atomic ensemble. After a programmed trapping duration, the two modes are released and recombined to reconstruct the polarization state. We evaluate state preservation of the released polarization state using state tomography, yielding an average fidelity of (98.7±1.1)% and an average release efficiency of (30±4)% for a trapping duration of 1.0 µs. By analyzing the release efficiency for trapping durations from 0.5 µs to 3.0 µs, we obtain an SLP lifetime of (1.34 ± 0.08) µs. These results elucidate the coherent trapping characteristics of arbitrary photonic polarization states in SLP systems, thereby contributing to the expansion of SLP-based applications in photonic quantum information processing.

DOI
10.1364/oe.606928

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We experimentally demonstrate coherent trapping of an arbitrary photonic polarization state as a stationary light pulse (SLP) within a cold 87 Rb atomic ensemble. The input polarization state is separated into two orthogonal polarization components, which are mapped onto two phase-matched path modes and simultaneously trapped as SLPs in a single cold atomic ensemble. After a programmed trapping duration, the two modes are released and recombined to reconstruct the polarization state. We evaluate state preservation of the released polarization state using state tomography, yielding an average fidelity of (98.7±1.1)% and an average release efficiency of (30±4)% for a trapping duration of 1.0 µs. By analyzing the release efficiency for trapping durations from 0.5 µs to 3.0 µs, we obtain an SLP lifetime of (1.34 ± 0.08) µs. These results elucidate the coherent trapping characteristics of arbitrary photonic polarization states in SLP systems, thereby contributing to the expansion of SLP-based applications in photonic quantum information processing.
The stationary light pulse (SLP) refers to a zero-group-velocity optical pulse in an atomic ensemble prepared by two counterpropagating driving fields. Despite the uniqueness of an optical pulse trapped within an atomic medium without a cavity, observations of SLP so far have been limited to trapping a single optical pulse due to the stringent SLP phase-matching condition, and this has severely hindered the development of SLP-based applications. In this Letter, we first show theoretically that the SLP process in fact supports two phase-matching conditions and we then utilize the result to experimentally demonstrate simultaneous SLP trapping of two optical pulses for the duration from 0.8 to 2.0 μs. The characteristic dissipation time, obtained by the release efficiency measurement from the SLP trapping state, is 1.22 μs, which corresponds to an effective Q factor of 2.9×10^{9}. Our Letter is expected to bring forth interesting SLP-based applications, such as, efficient photon-photon interaction, spatially multimode coherent quantum memory, creation of exotic photonic gas states, etc.
Efficient photon–photon interaction is one of the key elements for realizing quantum information processing. The interaction, however, must often be mediated through an atomic medium due to the bosonic nature of photons, and the interaction time, which is critically linked to the efficiency, depends on the properties of the atom–photon interaction. While the electromagnetically induced transparency effect does offer the possibility of photonic quantum memory, it does not enhance the interaction time as it fully maps the photonic state to an atomic state. The stationary light pulse (SLP) effect, on the contrary, traps the photonic state inside an atomic medium with zero group velocity, opening up the possibility of enhanced interaction time. In this work, we report the first experimental demonstration of trapping a free-propagating single-photon into a cold atomic ensemble via the quantum SLP (QSLP) process. We conclusively show that the quantum properties of the single-photon state are preserved well during the QSLP process. Our work paves the way for new approaches for efficient photon–photon interactions, exotic photonic states, and many-body simulations in photonic systems.
The stationary light pulse (SLP) refers to a zero-group-velocity optical pulse in an atomic ensemble prepared by two counter-propagating driving fields. Despite the uniqueness of an optical pulse trapped within an atomic medium without a cavity, observations of SLP so far have been limited to trapping a single optical pulse due to the stringent SLP phase-matching condition, and this has severely hindered the development of SLP-based applications. Here, we first show theoretically that the SLP process in fact supports two phase-matching conditions and we then utilize the result to experimentally demonstrate simultaneous SLP trapping of two optical pulses for the duration from0.8 μs0.8\ \mu \mathsf{s}0.8 μsto2.0 μs2.0\ \mu \mathsf{s}2.0 μs. The characteristic dissipation time, obtained by the release efficiency measurement, is1.22 μs1.22\ \mu \mathsf{s}1.22 μs, which corresponds to an effective Q-factor of2.9×1092.9\times 10^{9}2.9×109[1]. As our SLP system reports a large effective N-atom cooperativity of8×1068\times 10^{6}8×106, our work is expected to bring forth interesting SLP-based applications, such as, efficient photon-photon interaction, spatially multi-mode coherent quantum memory, creation of exotic photonic gas states, etc.
Photonic multi-dimensional storage capabilities and the high storage efficiency of multiplexed quantum storage devices are critical metrics that directly determine the entanglement distribution efficiency of quantum networks. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a high-efficiency storage for multi-dimensional photonic states in path, polarization, and orbital angular momentum (with vector beams serving as the photonic dimensional carriers of polarization and orbital angular momentum) in laser-cooled Rb 87 atom ensembles with cigar shapes. We achieve path-multiplexed storage of two-channel vector beams at the single-photon level, with storage efficiency exceeding 74% for first-order vector beams and 72% for second-order vector beams. Additionally, the storage fidelity surpasses 89% for both types. Furthermore, we achieve a storage time of approximately 7 μs for two-channel vector beams, and the spatial structure and phase information are preserved during storage through performed projection measurements. The results confirm that our system has the capability for optical storage in photon polarization and orbital angular momentum, as well as in a multi-dimensional photon path. These results show significant potential for advancing large-scale repeater-based quantum networks and distributed quantum computing.
Efficient quantum storage for polarization-encoded information is essential for quantum communication and quantum computation. However, current high-efficiency quantum storage, particularly those based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) protocol in atomic media, exhibit an inherent sensitivity for photonic polarization. This necessitates transforming the polarization encoding into path encoding, setting strict requirements for phase and alignment stability. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate an efficient and polarization-insensitive optical storage for arbitrary polarized modes into a cold 87Rb atomic ensemble with a path-separation-free architecture. We obtain a storage efficiency exceeding 50% for the arbitrary polarization mode, and the storage fidelity surpass 95%, which is far above the classical benchmark. The achieved full-polarization-compatible storage for arbitrary polarized modes promises significant advancements in quantum communication and networking. Quantum memory for polarization-encoded light is vital for quantum communication. The authors build a cold 87Rb memory that enables polarization-insensitive storage, achieving more than 50% efficiency and more than 95% fidelity for arbitrary polarization modes.