Electro-optic control of atom-light interactions using Rydberg dark-state polaritons

Bason, M.G.; Mohapatra, A.K.; Weatherill, K.J.; Adams, C.S

Abstract

We demonstrate a multiphoton Rydberg dark resonance where a Λ system is coupled to a Rydberg state. This N-type level scheme combines the ability to slow and store light pulses associated with long-lived ground-state superpositions with the strongly interacting character of Rydberg states. For the nd5/2 Rydberg state in 87Rb (with n=26 or 44) and a beam size of 1 mm, we observe a resonance linewidth of less than 100 kHz in a room-temperature atomic ensemble limited by transit-time broadening. The resonance is switchable with an electric field of order 1 V cm−1. Applications in electro-optic switching and photonic phase gates are discussed.

Citation

Bason, M., Mohapatra, A., Weatherill, K., & Adams, C. (2008). Electro-optic control of atom-light interactions using Rydberg dark-state polaritons. Physical Review A, 77(3), https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.77.032305

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2008
• Deposit Date: Sep 24, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 4, 2010
• Journal: Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Print ISSN: 1050-2947
• Electronic ISSN: 1094-1622
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 77
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.77.032305
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1516406
• Publisher URL: http://pra.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v77/i3/e032305