Image Storage in Hot Vapors

Abstract

We theoretically investigate image propagation and storage in hot atomic vapor. A $4f$ system is adopted for imaging and an atomic vapor cell is placed over the transform plane. The Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of an object in the object plane can thus be transformed into atomic Raman coherence according to the idea of ``light storage''. We investigate how the stored diffraction pattern evolves under diffusion. Our result indicates, under appropriate conditions, that an image can be reconstructed with high fidelity. The main reason for this procedure to work is the fact that diffusion of opposite-phase components of the diffraction pattern interfere destructively.