Slow light with cavity electromagnetically induced transparency

We report an experimental observation of slow light propagation in cold Rb atoms exhibiting cavity electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The steep slope of the atomic dispersion manifested by EIT reduces the light group velocity. The cavity filtering and feedback further contribute to the slowdown and delay of the light pulse propagation. A combination of the cavity and the EIT atomic system significantly improves the performance of the slow light propagation. A propagation time delay of similar to 200 ns was observed in the cavity and Rb EIT system, which is similar to 70 times greater than the time delay calculated for the light pulse propagation through the same Rb EIT system without the cavity. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.