Slow Light, Stopped Light and Guided Light in Hot Rubidium Vapor Using Off-resonant Interactions

This thesis presents the applications of some of the coherent processes in a three-level atomic system, to control spatial and temporal properties of a signal pulse. We use two Raman absorption resonances in rubidium vapor separated by a few MHz to achieve a rapidly tunable slow-light system. We control the slow-light characteristics all-optically by tuning the frequency and power of a coupling beam. A dual absorption slow-light system is known to cause less pulse broadening than a single transmission resonance system, and thus, a tunable double absorption system is advantageous. We use a four-wave mixing process to demonstrate pulse storage in rubidium vapor for times much greater than the pulse width. We demonstrate storage of both the temporal and spatial profile of the pulse. We overcome the diffusion of spatial information during the storage in warm atomic vapor by storing the Fourier transform of the image instead of an image with a flat phase. The Raman absorption resonance is also used to control the transverse refractive index profile of the signal beam. The refractive index of the signal interacting with a coupling beam in a Raman process is dependent on the coupling beam intensity. We use a first order Laguerre-Gaussian (LG01) coupling beam to create a waveguide like transverse refractive index profile. We demonstrate propagation of a focused signal beam for lengths much greater than the Rayleigh length. Finally, we demonstrate a dual absorption atomic prism, which is capable of spatially separating spectral lines that are 50 MHz apart and which can precisely measure frequency fluctuations. This simple prism is a valuable spectral filtering tool for a variety of atomic experiments.