Abstract

We derive an analytical expression for the broadening of a Gaussian input pulse in an arbitrary linear slow light medium. The expression consists of two terms, one corresponding to amplitude broadening (low-pass filtering of the pulse bandwidth) and another corresponding to phase broadening (phase dispersion around the resonance). It is shown that for a Lorentzian gain profile, the amplitude broadening is dominant at small fractional delays. However, for large fractional delays, phase broadening is inevitably dominate. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America