Partial Storage and Retrieval of a Light Pulse in a Cs Atomic Vapor with $\Lambda$-Type EIT

Abstract

We are able to store and retrieve part of a Gaussian light pulse in Cs atomic vapors with a Λ-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) scheme. After storing part of the probe light pulse by switching off a controlling field while the probe pulse was propagating through the vapor cell, we were able to retrieve the pulse when the controlling field was turned on after some dark interval. By changing the coupling off time by a constant quantity, we were able to reproduce the whole pulse shape, and by changing the dark interval, we were able to measure the decay time of atomic coherence, which is the timekeeper of information.