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Dynamical observations of self-stabilizing stationary light

Nature Physics volume 13, pages 68–73 (2017)Cite this article

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Abstract

The precise control of atom–light interactions is vital to many quantum technologies. For instance, atomic systems can be used to slow and store light, acting as a quantum memory. Optical storage can be achieved via stopped light, where no optical energy continues to exist in the atomic system, or as stationary light, where some optical energy remains present during storage. Here, we demonstrate a form of self-stabilizing stationary light. From any initial state, our atom–light system evolves to a stable configuration that may contain bright optical excitations trapped within the atomic ensemble. This phenomenon is verified experimentally in a cloud of cold Rb87 atoms. The spinwave in our atomic cloud is imaged from the side, allowing direct comparison with theoretical predictions.

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Figure 1: The simplified level scheme and theoretical predictions.
Figure 2: The experimental schematic for the SL pulse generation in an ensemble of cold 87Rb atoms.
Figure 3: Stationary light results.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Sørensen and J. Ott for helpful discussions regarding the treatment of multiple control fields. Our work was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) (CE110001027, FL150100019) and Y.-W.C. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) (2014R1A6A3A03056704).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia

    J. L. Everett, G. T. Campbell, Y.-W. Cho, P. Vernaz-Gris, D.B. Higginbottom, O. Pinel, P. K. Lam & B. C. Buchler

  2. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, UPMC-Sorbonne Universites, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, Collège de France, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France

    P. Vernaz-Gris

  3. Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia

    N. P. Robins

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  1. J. L. Everett
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Contributions

The theory in this paper was developed by J.L.E., G.T.C., Y.-W.C., P.V.-G., D.B.H. and O.P. The experiment was designed and carried out by J.L.E., G.T.C., Y.-W.C. and N.P.R. Results were analysed by J.L.E., G.T.C., Y.-W.C. and B.C.B. The paper was written by B.C.B., G.T.C., J.L.E., P.V.-G. and P.K.L.

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Correspondence to B. C. Buchler.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Everett, J., Campbell, G., Cho, YW. et al. Dynamical observations of self-stabilizing stationary light. Nature Phys 13, 68–73 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys3901

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