Storage and retrieval of a squeezed vacuum

Storage and retrieval of a squeezed vacuum was successfully demonstrated using electromagnetically induced transparency. The squeezed vacuum pulse having a temporal width of 930 ns was incident on the laser cooled (87)Rb atoms with an intense control light in a coherent state. When the squeezed vacuum pulse was slowed and spatially compressed in the cold atoms, the control light was switched off. After 3 mu s of storage, the control light was switched on again, and the squeezed vacuum was retrieved, as was confirmed using the time-domain homodyne method.