Storage and retrieval of ultraslow optical solitons in coherent atomic system

We investigate the propagation of intense probe pulses in a lifetime broadened Λ-type three-level atomic system with a configuration of electromagnetically induced transparency. We find that ultraslow optical solitons formed by a balance between dispersion and nonlinearity can be stored and retrieved in the system by switching off and on a control field. Such pulses are robust during storage and retrieval, and hence may have potential applications in optical and quantum information processing.