Induced transparency and absorption effects can be observed in the throughput of an optical microresonator that has two coresonant modes with very different quality factors. There are several different methods for achieving these effects, which enable slow light and fast light, i.e., the delay or advancement of an incident resonant pulse. For example, mode coupling can be employed. This coupling can take place between modes of the same polarization or modes of orthogonal polarization. Another method is based on superposition, when two orthogonally polarized modes are driven simultaneously by linearly polarized input light and throughput of the same polarization as the input is detected. In general, induced transparency is accompanied by pulse delay, whereas induced absorption can be accompanied by pulse advancement or delay. A number of different methods for producing induced transparency or absorption are compared here. Several properties are considered for comparison. One involves the widths of the induced transparency or absorption window and of the corresponding spectral region of steep dispersion. Achievable pulse delays or advancements, along with pulse distortion and delay-bandwidth (or advancement-bandwidth) products, are also compared. Different methods allow for different amounts of control over various system parameters, and these are compared as well. The differences among the several methods are evaluated in consideration of suitability for employment in various applications.

Date Published: 7 March 2016
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 9763, Slow Light, Fast Light, and Opto-Atomic Precision Metrology IX, 97631E (7 March 2016); doi: 10.1117/12.2220237

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9763:
Slow Light, Fast Light, and Opto-Atomic Precision Metrology IX
Selim M. Shahriar; Jacob Scheuer, Editor(s)