Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:quant-ph/0012138 · Physical Review Letters

Storage of Light in Atomic Vapor

David F. Phillips, A. Fleischhauer, A. Mair, Ronald Lee Walsworth, Mikhail D. Lukin

Published Jan 29, 2001• 2,041 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report an experiment in which a light pulse is effectively decelerated and trapped in a vapor of Rb atoms, stored for a controlled period of time, and then released on demand. We accomplish this "storage of light" by dynamically reducing the group velocity of the light pulse to zero, so that the coherent excitation of the light is reversibly mapped into a Zeeman (spin) coherence of the Rb vapor.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.86.783

Related papers

Phase coherence and control of stored photonic information

A. Mair, Jon Hager, David F. Phillips +2 more

We report the demonstration of phase coherence and control for the recently developed ``light-storage'' technique. Specifically, we employ a dynamic form of electromagnetically induced transparency to bring the group velocity of a light pulse to zero, thereby mapping the photonic information into an ensemble spin coherence in warm Rb vapor. We then apply a pulsed magnetic field to vary the phase of the atomic spin excitations and map the altered information back into light. We detect the resultant phase shift in an optical interferometric measurement, thus confirming that the storage process preserves phase coherence.

arXiv:quant-ph/0108046•Physical Review A•Feb 14, 2002•130 citations

Stored light and released fiction

Evgeny B. Alexandrov, Valerii S Zapasskii

It is shown that the interpretation of the experimental results reported in the publication Storage of Light in Atomic Vapor" by D.F.Phillips et al., Phys. Rev.Lett. 86, 783 (2001) is incorrect. The experimental observation of this paper can be consistently explained in the framework of standard concepts of the physics of optical pumping and have nothing to do with "storage of light'', or "dynamic reduction of the group velocity'', or "light pulse compression''.

arXiv:quant-ph/0304192•Apr 29, 2003•0 citations

Optimization of slow and stored light in atomic vapor

Irina V. Novikova, Alexey Vyacheslavovich Gorshkov, David F. Phillips +3 more

We present a preliminary experimental study of optimized slow and stored light pulses in Rb vapor cells. We study the effciency of light storage as a function of pulse duration, storage time, retrieval field intensity, etc. We demonstrate a procedure based on time reversal for the optimization of the effciency for storage of light in atomic ensembles suggested in a recent theoretical paper [A.V. Gorshkov et al., e-print archive quant-ph/0604037 (2006)]. Experimental results are in a good qualitative agreement with theoretical calculations based on a simplified three-level model.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Feb 8, 2007•6 citations

Resonance Beating of Light Stored Using Atomic Spinor Polaritons

Leon Karpa, Frank Vewinger, Martin Weitz

We investigate the storage of light in atomic rubidium vapor using a multilevel-tripod scheme. In the system, two collective dark polariton modes exist, forming an effective spinor quasiparticle. Storage of light is performed by dynamically reducing the optical group velocity to zero. After releasing the stored pulse, a beating of the two reaccelerated optical modes is monitored. The observed beating signal oscillates at an atomic transition frequency, opening the way to novel quantum limited measurements of atomic resonance frequencies and quantum switches.

arXiv:0807.3853•Physical Review Letters•Oct 24, 2008•62 citations

Large group delays and long storage times for optical pulses in atomic vapor cells

Irina V. Novikova, D. F. Phillips, Ronald Lee Walsworth

We achieve large fractional delays in slow and stored light in atomic vapors using temporally shaped control fields. Combined with amplification, temporal control allows for pulse transmission with pulse bandwidth preservation and minimal distortion.

Frontiers in Optics•Jan 1, 2006•0 citations

Storage and retrieval of light pulses in atomic media with “slow” and “fast” light

A. Lezama, A. M. Akulshin, Andrei I. Sidorov +1 more

We report experimental evidence that light storage, understood as the controlled release of a light pulse by an atomic sample dependent on the past presence of a writing pulse, is not restricted to small-group-velocity media but can also occur in a negative-group-velocity medium. We present a numerical modeling in close agreement with our observations and a simple physical picture applicable to light storage experiments in both ``slow'' and ``fast'' light media.

arXiv:physics/0506199•Physical Review A•Mar 3, 2006•46 citations
We report an experiment in which a light pulse is effectively decelerated and trapped in a vapor of Rb atoms, stored for a controlled period of time, and then released on demand. We accomplish this "storage of light" by dynamically reducing the group velocity of the light pulse to zero, so that the coherent excitation of the light is reversibly mapped into a Zeeman (spin) coherence of the Rb vapor.
We report the demonstration of phase coherence and control for the recently developed ``light-storage'' technique. Specifically, we employ a dynamic form of electromagnetically induced transparency to bring the group velocity of a light pulse to zero, thereby mapping the photonic information into an ensemble spin coherence in warm Rb vapor. We then apply a pulsed magnetic field to vary the phase of the atomic spin excitations and map the altered information back into light. We detect the resultant phase shift in an optical interferometric measurement, thus confirming that the storage process preserves phase coherence.
It is shown that the interpretation of the experimental results reported in the publication Storage of Light in Atomic Vapor" by D.F.Phillips et al., Phys. Rev.Lett. 86, 783 (2001) is incorrect. The experimental observation of this paper can be consistently explained in the framework of standard concepts of the physics of optical pumping and have nothing to do with "storage of light'', or "dynamic reduction of the group velocity'', or "light pulse compression''.
We present a preliminary experimental study of optimized slow and stored light pulses in Rb vapor cells. We study the effciency of light storage as a function of pulse duration, storage time, retrieval field intensity, etc. We demonstrate a procedure based on time reversal for the optimization of the effciency for storage of light in atomic ensembles suggested in a recent theoretical paper [A.V. Gorshkov et al., e-print archive quant-ph/0604037 (2006)]. Experimental results are in a good qualitative agreement with theoretical calculations based on a simplified three-level model.
We investigate the storage of light in atomic rubidium vapor using a multilevel-tripod scheme. In the system, two collective dark polariton modes exist, forming an effective spinor quasiparticle. Storage of light is performed by dynamically reducing the optical group velocity to zero. After releasing the stored pulse, a beating of the two reaccelerated optical modes is monitored. The observed beating signal oscillates at an atomic transition frequency, opening the way to novel quantum limited measurements of atomic resonance frequencies and quantum switches.