Single-atom quantum memory with degenerate atomic levels

Abstract

The storage and retrieval of a single-photon polarization q-bit by means of STIRAP through the atoms with degenerate levels is studied theoretically for arbitrary polarization of the driving laser field and arbitrary values of the angular momenta of resonant atomic levels. The dependence of the probability of long-term photon storage on the polarization of the driving field and on the initial atomic state is examined.