We present a general model for an atomic memory using ultra-short pulses of light, which allows both spatial and temporal multimode storage. The process involves the storage of a faint quantum light pulse into the spin coherence of the ground state of Lambda-type 3-level atoms, in the presence of a strong driving pulse. Our model gives a full description of the evolution of the field and of the atomic coherence in space and time throughout the writing and the read-out processes. It is valid for any frequency detuning, from the resonant case to the Raman case, and allows a detailed optimization of the memory efficiency.
@article{arxiv.1112.4852,
title = {High speed spatially multimode Lambda-type atomic memory with arbitrary frequency detuning},
author = {T. Golubeva and Yu. Golubev and O. Mishina and A. Bramati and J. Laurat and E. Giacobino},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1112.4852},
year = {2015}
}