We propose to shape biphoton wave packets with an electromagnetically induced grating in a four-level double-$Lambda$ cold atomic system. We show that the induced hybrid grating plays an essential role in directing the new fields into different angular positions, especially to the zeroth-order diffraction. A number of interesting features appear in the shaped two-photon waveforms. For example, broadening or narrowing the spectrum would be possible in the proposed scheme even without the use of a cavity.
A method for diffracting the weak probe beam into unidirectional and higher-order directions is proposed via a novel Rydberg electromagnetically induced grating, providing a new way for the implementations of quantum devices with cold Rydberg atoms. The proposed scheme utilizes a suitable and position-dependent adjustment to the two-photon detuning besides the modulation of the standing-wave coupling field, bringing a in-phase modulation which can change the parity of the dispersion. We observe that when the modulation amplitude is appropriate, a perfect unidirectional diffraction grating can be realized. In addition, due to the mutual effect between the van der Waals (vdWs) interaction and the atom-field interaction length that deeply improves the dispersion of the medium, the probe energy can be counter-intuitively transferred into higher-order diffractions as increasing the vdWs interaction, leading to the realization of a controllable higher-order diffraction grating via strong blockade.
Recent years have seen vast progress in the generation and detection of structured light, with potential applications in high capacity optical data storage and continuous variable quantum technologies. Here we measure the transmission of structured light through cold rubidium atoms and observe regions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We use q-plates to generate a probe beam with azimuthally varying phase and polarisation structure, and its right and left circular polarisation components provide the probe and control of an EIT transition. We observe an azimuthal modulation of the absorption profile that is dictated by the phase and polarisation structure of the probe laser. Conventional EIT systems do not exhibit phase sensitivity. We show, however, that a weak transverse magnetic field closes the EIT transitions, thereby generating phase dependent dark states which in turn lead to phase dependent transparency, in agreement with our measurements.
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a method to prepare a nonspreading atomic wave packet. Our technique relies on a spatially modulated absorption constantly chiseling away from an initially broad de Broglie wave. The resulting contraction is balanced by dispersion due to Heisenbergs uncertainty principle. This quantum evolution results in the formation of a nonspreading wave packet of Gaussian form with a spatially quadratic phase. Experimentally, we confirm these predictions by observing the evolution of the momentum distribution. Moreover, by employing interferometric techniques, we measure the predicted quadratic phase across the wave packet. Nonspreading wave packets of this kind also exist in two space dimensions and we can control their amplitude and phase using optical elements.
We show that an alkali atom with a tripod electronic structure can yield rich electromagnetically induced transparency phenomena even at room temperature. In particular we introduce double-double electromagnetically induced transparency wherein signal and probe fields each have two transparency windows. Their group velocities can be matched in either the first or second pair of transparency windows. Moreover signal and probe fields can each experience coherent gain in the second transparency windows. We explain using a semi-classical-dressed-picture to connect the tripod electronic structure to a double-Lambda scheme.
We study electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of a weakly interacting cold Rydberg gas. We show that the onset of interactions is manifest as a depopulation of the Rydberg state and numerically model this effect by adding a density-dependent non-linear term to the optical Bloch equations. In the limit of a weak probe where the depopulation effect is negligible, we observe no evidence of interaction induced decoherence and obtain a narrow Rydberg dark resonance with a linewidth of <600 kHz, limited by the Rabi frequency of the coupling beam