Universal approach to optimal photon storage in atomic media.
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.
Gorshkov
Alexey V
AV
Physics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
André
Axel
A
Fleischhauer
Michael
M
Sørensen
Anders S
AS
Lukin
Mikhail D
MD