  Stationary and slow light effects are of great interest for quantum
information applications. Using laser-cooled Rb87 atoms we have performed side
imaging of our atomic ensemble under slow and stationary light conditions,
which allows direct comparison with numerical models. The polaritions were
generated using electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), with stationary
light generated using counter-propagating control fields. By controlling the
power ratio of the two control fields we show fine control of the group
velocity of the stationary light. We also compare the dynamics of stationary
light using monochromatic and bichromatic control fields. Our results show
negligible difference between the two situations, in contrast to previous work
in EIT based systems.
