Stern-Gerlach effect of multi-component ultraslow optical solitons via electromagnetically induced transparency

We propose a scheme to exhibit a Stern-Gerlach effect of n-component (n > 2) high-dimensional ultraslow optical solitons in a coherent atomic system with (n+1)-pod level configuration via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). Based on Maxwell-Bloch equations, we derive coupled (3+1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrdinger equations governing the spatial-temporal evolution of n probe-field envelopes. We show that under EIT conditions significant deflections of the n components of coupled ultraslow optical solitons can be achieved by using a Stern-Gerlach gradient magnetic field. The stability of the ultraslow optical solitons can be realized by an optical lattice potential contributed from a far-detuned laser field. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America