Slow light propagation in a thin optical fiber via electromagnetically induced transparency

Abstract

We propose a configuration that utilizes electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) to tailor a fiber mode propagating inside a thin optical fiber and coherently control its dispersion properties to drastically reduce the group velocity of the fiber mode. The key to this proposal is that the evanescent field of the thin fiber strongly couples with the surrounding active medium, so that the EIT condition is met by the medium. We show how the properties of the fiber mode are modified due to the EIT medium, both numerically and analytically. We demonstrate that the group velocity of the modified fiber mode can be drastically reduced $(\ensuremath{\approx}44\mathrm{}\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{c})$ using the coherently prepared orthohydrogen doped in a matrix of parahydrogen crystal as the EIT medium.