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

TL;DR

This paper investigates slow light and amplification in hot Rb vapor using electromagnetically induced transparency and four-wave mixing, revealing the dependence of pulse dynamics on the Stokes field and confirming theoretical predictions with experiments.

Contribution

It presents a combined experimental and theoretical study of EIT and FWM in atomic vapor, highlighting the influence of the Stokes field on pulse propagation and amplification.

Findings

Pulse propagation depends on the seeded Stokes field amplitude.

Theoretical model agrees well with experimental data.

Optically dense medium enhances FWM effects.

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-$\Lambda$ 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.