Gorshkov Alexey V, André Axel, Fleischhauer Michael, Sørensen Anders S, Lukin Mikhail D
Physics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Mar 23;98(12):123601. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.123601. Epub 2007 Mar 19.
We present a universal physical picture for describing storage and retrieval of photon wave packets in a Lambda-type atomic medium. This physical picture encompasses a variety of different approaches to pulse storage ranging from adiabatic reduction of the photon group velocity and pulse-propagation control via off-resonant Raman fields to photon-echo-based techniques. Furthermore, we derive an optimal control strategy for storage and retrieval of a photon wave packet of any given shape. All these approaches, when optimized, yield identical maximum efficiencies, which only depend on the optical depth of the medium.
