Slow light propagation and amplification via electromagnetically induced transparency and four-wave mixing in an optically dense atomic vapor

Abstract

We experimentally and theoretically analyze the propagation of weak-signal field pulses under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in hot Rb vapor, and study the effects of resonant four-wave mixing (FWM). In particular, we demonstrate that in a double-Λ system, formed by the strong control field with the weak resonant signal and a far-detuned Stokes field, both continuous-wave spectra and pulse propagation dynamics for the signal field depend strongly on the amplitude of the seeded Stokes field, and the effect is enhanced in optically dense atomic medium. We also show that the theory describing the coupled propagation of the signal and Stokes fields is in good agreement with the experimental observations.

Keywords:

• electromagnetically induced transparency
• four-wave mixing
• slow light
• pulse propagation
• atomic vapor

Acknowledgments

The authors thank M.D. Lukin for useful discussions. This research was supported by NSF grant PHY-0758010, Jeffress Research Grant J-847, and the College of William & Mary.

Notes

Note

1. As in 18, we define the Rabi frequency Ω as , where I is the control field intensity.