Experimental study of the effects of two-photon detuning on slow light and light memory

Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect is an effective means to store light field into the atom ensemble. The extra noise introduced in the stored procedure can be suppressed greatly under the condition of large one-photon detuning and proper two-photon detuning. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the slow light and light storage in Rb-87 vapor by using EIT effect, and study the effects of the two-photon detuning on light pulse delay and light memory at 650 MHz one-photon red detuning. In order to avoid some unwanted effects under the high optical depth condition, such as four-wave mixing, etc., the temperature of the atomic cell is controlled at 65 degrees Celsius. The experimental results show that the delay and the retrieval signals are significant in a two-photon detuning range from 0 to 0.5 MHz. The pulse delay decreases with the increase of two-photon detuning. The delay is 0.36 mu s at two-photon resonance, and it is 0.07 mu s at 1 MHz two-photon detuning. We simulate the delayed light pulse by using a three-level Lambda-type EIT model. The shapes of the measured slow light are in agreement with the theoretical results. The retrieval signals are observed at different two-photon detunings. The shapes of the retrieval pulses change with the two-photon detuning. The shape variations of the retrieval pulses cannot be explained by the three-level EIT theoretical model. By considering the atomic Zeeman sublevels interacting with the left-circular and right-circular polarized components of probe and coupling fields, multiple Lambda-type EIT systems will be formed. The interference between the retrieval signals from multiple EIT subsystems causes the shape distortions of retrieval pulses. The retrieval efficiency is measured as a function of two-photon detuning. The retrieval efficiency oscillates, and multiple peaks appear with the increase of two-photon detuning. The first peak appears at two-photon resonance, and the second peak appears at 0.48 MHz two-photon detuning. Finally, we measure the retrieval efficiency as a function of the coupling power at 0.48 MHz two-photon detuning. The optimal retrieval efficiency reaches 25% when the coupling power is 100 mW. These results provide experimental reference for the quantum memory of continuous variables in the hot atom ensemble.