Daisuke Akamatsu

Storage and Retrieval of a Squeezed Vacuum

Storage and retrieval of a squeezed vacuum was successfully demonstrated using electromagnetically induced transparency. The squeezed vacuum pulse having a temporal width of 930 ns was incident on the laser cooled 87Rb atoms with an intense control light in a coherent state. When the squeezed vacuum pulse was slowed and spatially compressed in the cold atoms, the control light was switched off. After 3 mus of storage, the control light was switched on again, and the squeezed vacuum was retrieved, as was confirmed using the time-domain homodyne method.

Ultraslow Propagation of Squeezed Vacuum Pulses with Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

We have succeeded in observing ultraslow propagation of squeezed vacuum pulses with electromagnetically induced transparency. Squeezed vacuum pulses (probe lights) were incident on a laser-cooled 87Rb gas together with an intense coherent light (control light). A homodyne method sensitive to the vacuum state was employed for detecting the probe pulse passing through the gas. A delay of 3.1 micros was observed for the probe pulse having a temporal width of 10 micros.

Generation of a squeezed vacuum resonant on a rubidium D1 line with periodically poled KTiOPO4

We report the generation of a continuous-wave squeezed vacuum resonant on the Rb D1 line (795 nm) using periodically poled KTiOPO4 (PPKTP) crystals. With a frequency doubler and an optical parametric oscillator based on PPKTP crystals, we observed a squeezing level of -2.75+/-0.14 dB and an antisqueezing level of +7.00+/-0.13 dB. This system could be utilized for demonstrating storage and retrieval of the squeezed vacuum, which is important for the ultraprecise measurement of atomic spins as well as quantum information processing.

Quantum memory of a squeezed vacuum for arbitrary frequency sidebands

We have developed a quantum memory that is completely compatible with current quantum information processing for continuous variables of light, where arbitrary frequency sidebands of a squeezed vacuum can be stored and retrieved using bichromatic electromagnetic induced transparency. The 2 MHz sidebands of squeezed vacuum pulses with temporal widths of 470 ns and a squeezing level of -1.78{+-}0.02 dB were stored for 3 {mu}s in laser-cooled {sup 87}Rb atoms. Squeezing of -0.44{+-}0.02 dB, which is the highest squeezing reported for a retrieved pulse, was achieved.

Observation of electromagnetically induced transparency for a squeezed vacuum with the time domain method

A probe light in a squeezed vacuum state was injected into cold 87Rb atoms with an intense control light in a coherent state. A sub-MHz window was created due to electromagnetically induced transparency, and the incident squeezed vacuum could pass through the cold atoms without optical loss, as was successfully monitored using a time-domain homodyne method.

Achieving very-low-loss group velocity reduction without electromagnetically induced transparency

A Raman method is studied experimentally for potential optical-wave group velocity reduction in resonant medium. Specifically, we show that the proposed method can achieve significant group velocity reduction comparable to the conventional electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) method that had been exclusively used to date. In addition, we show that this method has a significantly lower loss compared to the EIT method, and has rich dynamics such as probe pulse narrowing. Such features have applications in the domain of telecommunication technology.