Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: We analytically study the linear propagation of arbitrarily shaped light pulses through an absorbing medium with a narrow transparency window or through a resonant amplifying medium. We point out that, under certain general conditions, the pulse acquires a nearly Gaussian shape, irrespective of its initial shape and of the spectral profile of the line. We explicitly derive in this case the pulse parameters, including its skewness, responsible for a deviation of the delay of the pulse maximum from the group delay. We illustrate our general results by analyzing the slow-light experiments having demonstrated the largest fractional pulse delays.
Source: Physical Review A
Authors: Bruno Macke, Bernard Ségard
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2094418759