Multiple frequency conversion via atomic spin coherence of storing a light pulse**Project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2011CB921603), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11374126, 11347137, 11404336, and 11204103), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2013T60317), and the National Fund for Fostering Talents of Basic Science, China (Grant No. J1103202).

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate multiple frequency conversion via atomic spin coherence of storing a light pulse in a doped solid. The essence of this multiple frequency conversion is four-wave mixing based on stored atomic spin coherence. Through electromagnetically induced transparency, an input probe pulse is stored into atomic spin coherence by modulating the intensity of the control field. By using two different control fields to interact with the coherently prepared medium, the stored atomic spin coherence can be transformed into three different information channels. Multiple frequency conversion is implemented efficiently by manipulating the spectra of the control fields to scatter atomic spin coherence. This multiple frequency conversion is expected to have potential applications in information processing and communication network.