Simultaneous slow and fast light involving the Faraday effect

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical analysis of simultaneous slow and fast light phenomena in cold atomic ensembles under a magnetic field, revealing polarization-dependent effects and the possibility of separating optical components.

Contribution

It offers explicit analytic transfer functions and demonstrates polarization-based control of slow and fast light, including conditions for separating optical precursors and main fields.

Findings

Slow light observed in one polarization

Fast light observed in perpendicular polarization

Separation of optical precursor and main field possible

Abstract

We theoretically study the linear transmission of linearly polarizedlight pulses in an ensemble of cold atoms submitted to a static magneticfield parallel to the direction of propagation. The carrier frequencyof the incident pulses coincides with a resonance frequency of theatoms. The transmitted light, the electric field of which is transversal,is examined in the polarizations parallel and perpendicular to thatof the incident pulses. We give explicit analytic expressions for thetransfer functions of the system for both polarizations and for thecorresponding group delays. We demonstrate that slow light can beobserved in a polarization, whereas fast light is simultaneously observedin the perpendicular polarization. Moreover, we point out that, dueto the polarization post selection, the system is not necessarilyminimum phase shift. Slow light can then be obtained in situationswhere an irrelevant application of the Kramers-Kronig relations could lead oneto expect fast light. When the incident light is step modulated, wefinally show that, in suitable conditions, the system enables oneto separate optical precursor and main field.