Non-dispersive optics using storage of light

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method to achieve non-dispersive optical beam deflection by storing light as a spin wave in rubidium vapor, enabling frequency-independent deflection with minimal chromatic aberration.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to non-dispersive light deflection using stored light and magnetic phase gradients, significantly reducing chromatic aberration compared to traditional methods.

Findings

Beam deflection is independent of optical frequency.

Chromatic aberration suppression reaches 10 orders of magnitude.

Method enables precise control of light deflection without dispersion.

Abstract

We demonstrate the non-dispersive deflection of an optical beam in a Stern-Gerlach magnetic field. An optical pulse is initially stored as a spin-wave coherence in thermal rubidium vapour. An inhomogeneous magnetic field imprints a phase gradient onto the spin wave, which upon reacceleration of the optical pulse leads to an angular deflection of the retrieved beam. We show that the obtained beam deflection is non-dispersive, i.e. its magnitude is independent of the incident optical frequency. Compared to a Stern-Gerlach experiment carried out with propagating light under the conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency, the estimated suppression of the chromatic aberration reaches 10 orders of magnitude.