Ultraslow Optical Solitons and Their Storage and Retrieval in an Ultracold Ladder-Type Atomic System

Abstract

We propose a scheme to obtain stable nonlinear optical pulses and realize their storage and retrieval in an ultracold ladder-type three-level atomic gas via electromagnetically induced transparency. Based on Maxwell-Bloch equations we derive a nonlinear equation governing the evolution of probe field envelope, and show that optical solitons with ultraslow propagating velocity and extremely low generation power can be created in the system. Furthermore, we demonstrate that such ultraslow optical solitons can be stored and retrieved by switching off and on a control field. Due to the balance between dispersion and nonlinearity, the ultraslow optical solitons are robust during propagation, and hence their storage and retrieval are more desirable than that of linear optical pulses. This raises the possibility of realizing the storage and retrieval of light and quantum information by using solitonic pulses.

16 pages, 4 figures

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• Structural Phase Transitions of Optical Patterns in Atomic Gases with Microwave Controlled Rydberg Interactions
• Storage and Retrieval of Light Pulses in a Fast-Light Medium via Active Raman Gain
• Quantum Squeezing of Slow-Light Dark Solitons via Electromagnetically Induced Transparency
• Quantum Squeezing of Slow-Light Solitons
• Simultaneous Quantum Squeezing of Light Polarizations and Atomic Spins in a Cold Atomic Gas
• Stable single light bullets and vortices and their active control in cold Rydberg gases