Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

Why do we need slow light?

Nature Photonics volume 2, pages 448–450 (2008)Cite this article

The extreme speed at which light moves, and the fact that photons do not tend to interact with transparent matter, is of enormous benefit to mankind. It allows us to see deep into the Universe and to transmit data over long distances in optical fibres. So, why slow light down?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Faster is not always better, as the fable of the hare and the tortoise demonstrates.
Figure 2: Illustration of the slow-light intensity enhancement.

© 2007 IOP

Figure 3: Dispersion (ω–k) diagram for slow light.

References

  1. Hau, L. V., Harris, S. E., Dutton, Z. & Behroozi, C. H. Nature 397, 594–598 (1999).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Yablonovitch, E. Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 2059–2062 (1987).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Espinola, R. L., Dadap, J. I., Osgood, R. M., McNab, S. J. & Vlasov, Y. A. Opt. Express 12, 3713–3718 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Krauss, T. F. J. Phys. D 40, 2666–2670 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. McMillan, J. F., Yang, X., Panoiu, N. C., Osgood, R. M. & Wong, C. W. Opt. Lett. 31, 1235–1237 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Beggs, D. M., White, T. P., O'Faolain, L. & Krauss, T. F. Opt. Lett. 33, 147–149 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Green, W. M. J., Rooks, M. J., Sekaric, L. & Vlasov, Y. A. Opt. Express 15, 17106–17113 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Dutton, Z., Ginsberg, N. S., Slowe, C. & Hau, L. V. Europhys. News 35 (2004) http://www.europhysicsnews.com/full/26/article1/article1.html.

  9. Lukin, M. D. & Imamoglu, A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1419 (2000).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Thevenaz, L. Nature Photon. 2, 474–481 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Parra, E. & Lowell, J. R. Opt. Photon. News 18, 41–45 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sharping, J. E. et al. Opt. Express 13, 7872–7877 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Morichetti, F. et al. Opt. Express 16, 8395–8405 (2007).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Khurgin, J. B. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 22, 1062–1074 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Yanik, M. F. & Fan, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 083901 (2004).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Baba, T. Nature Photon. 2, 465–473 (2008).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. is in the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, Fife, KY16 9SS, UK. tfk@st-andrews.ac.uk,

    Thomas F. Krauss

Authors
  1. Thomas F. Krauss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Krauss, T. Why do we need slow light?. Nature Photon 2, 448–450 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2008.139

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2008.139

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing