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arXiv:quant-ph/0106066 · Physical Review A

Quantum memory for photons: Dark-state polaritons

Michael Fleischhauer, Mikhail D. Lukin

Published Jan 15, 2002• 782 citations
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Abstract

An ideal and reversible transfer technique for the quantum state between light and metastable collective states of matter is presented and analyzed in detail. The method is based on the control of photon propagation in coherently driven three-level atomic media, in which the group velocity is adiabatically reduced to zero. Form-stable coupled excitations of light and matter (``dark-state polaritons'') associated with the propagation of quantum fields in electromagnetically induced transparency are identified, their basic properties discussed and their application for quantum memories for light analyzed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.65.022314

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An ideal and reversible transfer technique for the quantum state between light and metastable collective states of matter is presented and analyzed in detail. The method is based on the control of photon propagation in coherently driven three-level atomic media, in which the group velocity is adiabatically reduced to zero. Form-stable coupled excitations of light and matter (``dark-state polaritons'') associated with the propagation of quantum fields in electromagnetically induced transparency are identified, their basic properties discussed and their application for quantum memories for light analyzed.
We identify form-stable coupled excitations of light and matter ("dark-state polaritons") associated with the propagation of quantum fields in electromagnetically induced transparency. The properties of dark-state polaritons such as the group velocity are determined by the mixing angle between light and matter components and can be controlled by an external coherent field as the pulse propagates. In particular, light pulses can be decelerated and "trapped" in which case their shape and quantum state are mapped onto metastable collective states of matter. Possible applications of this reversible coherent-control technique are discussed.
We study the influence of a lossless material medium on the coherent storage and quantum-state transfer of a quantized probe light in an ensemble of $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type atoms. The medium is modeled as uniformly distributed two-level atoms with the same energy level spacing, coupling to a probe light. This coupled system can be simplified to a collection of two-mode polaritons which couple to one transition of the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type atoms. We show that, when the other transition of $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type atoms is controlled by a classical light, electromagnetically induced transparency can also occur for the polaritons. In this case the coherent storage and quantum transfer for photon states are achievable through novel dark states with respect to the polaritons. By calculating the corresponding dispersion relation, we find that the ensemble of three-level atoms with $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type transitions may serve as quantum memory for it slows or even stops light propagation through the mechanism of electromagnetically induced transparency.
We describe a general technique that allows for an ideal transfer of quantum correlations between light fields and metastable states of matter. The technique is based on trapping quantum states of photons in coherently driven atomic media, in which the group velocity is adiabatically reduced to zero. We discuss possible applications such as quantum state memories, generation of squeezed atomic states, preparation of entangled atomic ensembles, quantum information processing, and quantum networking.
In this thesis, after a brief review of some concepts of Quantum Optics, we analyze a three-level atomic system in the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), and we investigate the propagation of a gaussian pulse along a cigar-shaped cloud of both cold and hot atoms in EIT regime. In particular, we show that it is possible to amplify a slow propagating pulse without population inversion. We also analyze the regime of anomalous light propagation showing that it is possible to observe superluminal energy propagation. In these conditions, it is possible to imprint reversibly ('write') the information carried by the photons onto the atoms, specifically as a coherent pattern of atomic spins, and later the information stored in the atomic spins can be transferred back ('read') to the light field, implementing in this way a quantum memory. Besides, we analyze the propagation of a quantum field in an EIT medium sustaining dark state polaritons (DSP) in a quasi-particle picture. Here, the decoherence effects in this quantum memory for photons, by analyzing the fidelity of the quantum state transfer, and the emergence of parastatistics in the quasi-particle picture in gain medium are discussed. Finally, we introduce a polarization quantum memory for photons by using a tripod atomic configuration in which two ideal EIT windows appear and the two DSPs, scattering each other, show a solitonic behavior.
Coherent interactions of laser light with atomic ensembles allow one to modify dispersive properties of a medium and lead to new optical phenomena. Studies of the controlled light propagation and storing in such media have recently become a dynamically developing field of research motivated both by the fundamental character of the processes and by potential applications. This article briefly reviews basic theoretical approach to the dynamics of the propagation of laser pulses in optically modified media. The method and the physical processes are discussed that allow one to slow down the group velocity of laser pulse to zero (stopping of light), to transfer the state of a light pulse to atomic coherences and to restore the pulse. The interpretation of these phenomena in the formalism of dark-state polaritons is presented. Examples of possible coherent manipulations on a stored light are also discussed.
Dark-state polaritons in a five-level MMM-type atomic ensemble are proposed in the electromagnetically induced transparency. Under conditions of the low excitation limit and adiabatic following, the quantum field can be mapped onto the atomic polarization states, forming the shape preserving quantum states of polaritons. Two channels for robust quantum memory are provided, which enables the potential applications in quantum-information processing.