A scheme comparison of Autler-Townes based slow light in inhomogeneously broadened quantum dot media

We propose a method to achieve significant optical signal delays exploiting the effect of Autler–Townes splitting (ATS) in an inhomogeneously broadened quantum dot medium. The absorption and slowdown effects are compared for three schemes i.e., Ξ, V, and Λ, corresponding to different excitation configurations. Qualitative differences of the V scheme compared to the Ξ and Λ schemes are found, which show that features of (ATS) are only revealed in the V scheme. The underlying physical mechanisms causing this discrepancy are analyzed and discussed. Finally we compare field propagation calculations of the schemes showing significantly larger achievable signal delays for the V scheme despite finite absorption of the coupling field. This opens the possibility for using waveguide structures for both coupling and probe fields, thus significantly increasing the achievable signal delays.