Photon wave-packet manipulation via dynamic electromagnetically induced transparency in multilayer structures

We present a theoretical study of the dynamics of a light pulse propagating through a multilayer system consisting of alternating blocks of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) media and vacuum. We study the effect of a dynamical modulation of the EIT control field on the shape of the wave packet. Interesting effects due to the group velocity mismatch at the interfaces are found. Modulation schemes that can be realized in ultracold atomic samples with standard experimental techniques are proposed and discussed. Calculations are performed using a modified slowly varying envelope approximation of the Maxwell-Bloch equations and are compared to an effective description based on a continuity equation for the polariton flow.