  We report the experimental observation of slow-light and coherent storage in
a setting where light is tightly confined in the transverse directions. By
interfacing a tapered optical nanofiber with a cold atomic ensemble,
electromagnetically induced transparency is observed and light pulses at the
single-photon level are stored in and retrieved from the atomic medium with an
overall efficiency of (10 +/- 0.5) %. Collapses and revivals can be
additionally controlled by an applied magnetic field. Our results based on
subdiffraction-limited optical mode interacting with atoms via the strong
evanescent field demonstrate an alternative to free-space focusing and a novel
capability for information storage in an all-fibered quantum network.
