Slow Light of an Amplitude Modulated Gaussian Pulse in Cesium Vapor

Abstract

Slow light of an amplitude modulated Gaussian (AMG) pulse in cesium vapor is demonstrated and studied, as an appropriate amplitude modulation to a single pulse can expand its spectrum and thus increase the utilization efficiency of the bandwidth of a slow light system. In a single-$\Lambda$ type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) system, the slowed AMG pulse experiences severe distortion, mainly owing to the frequency dependent transmission of medium. Additionally, due to its spectral distribution, the frequency dependent dispersion of the medium causes simultaneous slow and fast light of different spectral components and thus a certain dispersive distortion of the AMG pulse. Further, a post-processing method is proposed to recover the slowed (distorted) pulse, which indicates that by introducing a linear optical system with a desired gain spectrum we can recover the pulse in an "all-optical" way. Finally, we discuss the limitations during this compensation procedure in detail. Although it is demonstrated in the cesium vapor using EIT, this method should be applicable to a wide range of slow light systems.