Topological stability of stored optical vortices

Details Topological stability of stored optical vortices Topological stability of stored optical vortices

2007-01-18

arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0701132v4

Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 203601 (2007)

Physics

Quantum Physics

4 pages, 4 figures v2: minor grammatical corrections v3: problem with references fixed v4: minor clarifications added to the t

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.203601

We report an experiment in which an optical vortex is stored in a vapor of Rb atoms. Due to its 2\pi phase twist, this mode, also known as the Laguerre-Gauss mode, is topologically stable and cannot unwind even under conditions of strong diffusion. To supplement our finding, we stored a flat phase Gaussian beam with a dark center. Contrary to the optical vortex, which stays stable for over 100 microseconds, the dark center in the retrieved flat-phased image was filled with light at storage times as small as 10 microseconds. This experiment proves that higher electromagnetic modes can be converted into atomic coherences, and that modes with phase singularities are robust to decoherence effects such as diffusion. This opens the possibility to more elaborate schemes for two dimensional information storage in atomic vapors.

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