Raman interactions in alkali vapours are used in applications such as atomic clocks, optical signal processing, generation of squeezed light and Raman quantum memories for temporal multiplexing. To achieve a strong interaction the alkali ensemble needs both a large optical depth and a high level of spin-polarisation. We implement a technique known as quenching using a molecular buffer gas which allows near-perfect spin-polarisation of over $99.5%$ in caesium vapour at high optical depths of up to $sim 2 times 10^5$; a factor of 4 higher than can be achieved without quenching. We use this system to explore efficient light storage with high gain in a GHz bandwidth Raman memory.
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