Diffuse light scattering dynamics under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency

Abstract

We show that, under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), a significant portion of the incident probe pulse can be transferred into Rayleigh and Raman scattering channels. The light scattered into the Rayleigh channel emerges from the sample with an EIT time delay. We show that a proper description of the probe light propagation in the sample should include, in the diffusion dynamics, a spin polariton generated by the two-photon EIT process. The results have important implications for studies of weak light localization, and for manipulation of single and few photon states in ultracold atomic gases.