Stopping a slow-light soliton: an exact solution

Abstract

We investigate propagation of a slow-light soliton in Λ-type media such as atomic vapours and Bose–Einstein condensates. We show that the group velocity of the soliton monotonically decreases with the intensity of the controlling laser field, which decays exponentially after the laser is switched off. The shock wave of the vanishing controlling field overtakes the slow soliton and stops it, while the optical information is recorded in the medium in the form of spatially localized polarization. In the strongly nonlinear regime we find an explicit exact solution describing the whole process.