Abstract
We experimentally demonstrate the propagation of light pulse from subluminal to superluminal light based on quantum coherence in a degenerate two-level atomic system in a Cs vapor cell. It is shown that the group velocity of light pulse can be switched from subluminal to superluminal propagation via changing the coupling field from a traveling wave to a standing wave, while can also be continuously manipulated by varying the intensity of two waves superposed to form a standing wave. The observed maximum delay and advance times are about 0.45 and 0.54 μs, corresponding to the group velocity of V s = 168 km/s and v g =−138 km/s, respectively. This investigation may have the practical applications of devices for optical tunable delay lines, optical switching and optical buffering.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Harris S E. Electromagnetically induced transparency. Phys Tod, 1997, 50: 36–42
Hau L V, Harris S E, Dutton Z, et al. Light speed reduction to 17 meters per second in an ultracold atomic gas. Nature, 1999, 397: 594–598
Lukin M D, Imamoğlu A. Controlling photons using electromagnetically induced transparency. Nature, 2001, 413: 273–276
Liu C, Dutton Z, Behroozi C H, et al. Observation of coherent optical information storage in an atomic medium using halted light pulses. Nature, 2001, 409: 490–493
Phillips D F, Fleischhauer A, Mair A, et al. Storage of light in atomic vapor. Phys Rev Lett, 2001, 86: 783–786
Duan L M, Lukin M D, Cirac J I, et al. Long-distance quantum communication with atomic ensembles and linear optics. Nature, 2001, 414: 413–418
Akulshin A M, Barreiro S, Lezama A. Electromagnetically induced absorption and transparency due to resonant two-field excitation of quasidegenerate levels in Rb vapor. Phys Rev A, 1998, 57: 2996–3002
Bortman-Arbiv D, Wilson-Gordon A D, Friedmann H. Phase control of group velocity: From subluminal to superluminal light propagation. Phys Rev A, 2001, 63: 043818
Budker D, Kimball D F, Rochester S M, et al. Nonlinear magneto-optics and reduced group velocity of light in atomic vapor with slow ground state relaxation. Phys Rev Lett, 1999, 83: 1767–1770
Agarwal G S, Dey T N, Menon S. Knob for changing light propagation from subluminal to superluminal. Phys Rev A, 2001, 64: 053809
Affolderbach C, Knappe S, Wynands R, et al. Electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption in a standing wave. Phys Rev A, 2002, 65: 043810
Zhang J P, Xu J, Hernandez G, et al. Polychromatic-field-induced transparency and absorption in a three-level Λ system. Phys Rev A, 2007, 75: 043810
Strekalov D V, Matsko A B, Yu N. Electromagnetically induced transparency with a partially standing drive field. Phys Rev A, 2007, 76: 053828
Zhukov A A, Zibrov S A, Romanov G V, et al. Electromagnetically induced absorption in a bichromatic laser field. Phys Rev A, 2009, 80: 033830
Brown A W, Xiao M. All-optical switching and routing based on an electromagnetically induced absorption grating. Opt Lett, 2005, 30: 699–701
Zhang J X, Zhou H T, Wang D W, et al. Enhanced reflection via phase compensation from anomalous dispersion in atomic vapor. Phys Rev A, 2011, 83: 053841
Brillouin L. Wave Propagation and Group Velocity. New York: Academic, 1960
Kasapi A, Jain M, Yin G Y, et al. Electromagnetically induced transparency: Propagation dynamics. Phys Rev Lett, 1995, 74: 2447–2450
Turukhin A V, Sudarshanam V S, Shahriar M S, et al. Observation of ultraslow and stored light pulses in a solid. Phys Rev Lett, 2001, 88: 023602
Feng S, Yang G J, Li Y X, et al. Tunable slow-light multi-mode photonic crystal waveguides based on the coupling of square cavities. Sci China-Phys Mech Astron, 2012, 55: 1769–1775
Wu J, Li Y P, Yang C C, et al. Slow light in tapered slot photonic crystal waveguide. Chin Sci Bull, 2009, 54: 3658–3662
Liu Y, Jiang C. Enhanced parametric amplification in slow-light photonic crystal waveguides. Chin Sci Bull, 2009, 54: 2221–2224
Wang L J, Kuzmich A, Dogariu A. Gain-assisted superluminal light propagation. Nature, 2000, 406: 277–279
Gao F, Xu J J, Zhang G Q, et al. Nonlinear optical properties and superluminal propagation in the ruby. Chin Sci Bull, 2010, 55: 473–477
Kim K, Moon H S, Lee C, et al. Observation of arbitrary group velocities of light from superluminal to subluminal on a single atomic transition line. Phys Rev A, 2003, 68: 013810
Kang H, Hernandez G, Zhu Y F. Superluminal and slow light propagation in cold atoms. Phys Rev A, 2004, 70: 011801
Mikhailov E E, Sautenkov V A, Novikova I, et al. Large negative and positive delay of optical pulses in coherently prepared dense Rb vapor with buffer gas. Phys Rev A, 2004, 69: 063808
Bae I H, Moon H S. Continuous control of light group velocity from subluminal to superluminal propagation with a standing-wave coupling field in a Rb vapor cell. Phys Rev A, 2011, 83: 053806
Zhou H T, Guo M J, Wang D, et al. Angular momentum and two-photon detuning dependence of reflection spectrum on degenerate two-level systems in Cs vapour. J Phys B, 2011, 44: 225503
Wang D W, Zhou H T, Guo M J, et al. Optical diode made from a moving photonic crystal. Phys Rev Lett, 2013, 110: 093901
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, J., Jiang, Q., Liu, C. et al. The manipulation of light pulse from subluminal to superluminal propagation in a degenerate two-level Cs atomic system. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 57, 2246–2250 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-014-5615-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-014-5615-x