Observation of Nonlinear Optical Interactions of Ultralow Levels of Light in a Tapered Optical Nanofiber Embedded in a Hot Rubidium Vapor

We report the observation of low-light level optical interactions in a tapered optical nanofiber (TNF) embedded in a hot rubidium vapor. The small optical mode area plays a significant role in the optical properties of the hot vapor Rb-TNF system, allowing nonlinear optical interactions with nW level powers even in the presence of transit-time dephasing rates much larger than the intrinsic linewidth. We demonstrate nonlinear absorption and V-type electromagnetically induced transparency with cw powers below 10 nW, comparable to the best results in any Rb-optical waveguide system. The good performance and flexibility of the Rb-TNF system makes it a very promising candidate for ultralow power resonant nonlinear optical applications.