Demonstration of a memory for tightly guided light in an optical nanofiber

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates slow-light and quantum memory using a tightly confined optical mode in a nanofiber coupled with cold atoms, achieving controlled light storage and retrieval with potential for fiber-based quantum networks.

Contribution

It presents the first experimental realization of light storage in a nanofiber-atom system with controlled coherence and efficiency, advancing fiber-integrated quantum memory technology.

Findings

Achieved 10% efficiency in storing and retrieving single-photon level pulses.

Observed collapses and revivals controlled by magnetic fields.

Demonstrated strong evanescent field interaction enabling subdiffraction optical mode coupling.

Abstract

We report the experimental observation of slow-light and coherent storage in a setting where light is tightly confined in the transverse directions. By interfacing a tapered optical nanofiber with a cold atomic ensemble, electromagnetically induced transparency is observed and light pulses at the single-photon level are stored in and retrieved from the atomic medium with an overall efficiency of (10 +/- 0.5) %. Collapses and revivals can be additionally controlled by an applied magnetic field. Our results based on subdiffraction-limited optical mode interacting with atoms via the strong evanescent field demonstrate an alternative to free-space focusing and a novel capability for information storage in an all-fibered quantum network.