Controlling cavity reflectivity with a single quantum dot

Solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems offer a robust and scalable platform for quantum optics experiments and the development of quantum information processing devices. In particular, systems based on photonic crystal nanocavities and semiconductor quantum dots have seen rapid progress. Recent experiments have allowed the observation of weak and strong coupling regimes of interaction between the photonic crystal cavity and a single quantum dot in photoluminescence. In the weak coupling regime, the quantum dot radiative lifetime is modified; in the strong coupling regime, the coupled quantum dot also modifies the cavity spectrum. Several proposals for scalable quantum information networks and quantum computation rely on direct probing of the cavity-quantum dot coupling, by means of resonant light scattering from strongly or weakly coupled quantum dots. Such experiments have recently been performed in atomic systems and superconducting circuit QED systems, but not in solid-state quantum dot-cavity QED systems. Here we present experimental evidence that this interaction can be probed in solid-state systems, and show that, as expected from theory, the quantum dot strongly modifies the cavity transmission and reflection spectra. We show that when the quantum dot is coupled to the cavity, photons that are resonant with its transition are prohibited from entering the cavity. We observe this effect as the quantum dot is tuned through the cavity and the coupling strength between them changes. At high intensity of the probe beam, we observe rapid saturation of the transmission dip. These measurements provide both a method for probing the cavity-quantum dot system and a step towards the realization of quantum devices based on coherent light scattering and large optical nonlinearities from quantum dots in photonic crystal cavities.     

Cavity QED with a Bose-Einstein condensate

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) describes the coherent interaction between matter and an electromagnetic field confined within a resonator structure, and is providing a useful platform for developing concepts in quantum information processing. By using high-quality resonators, a strong coupling regime can be reached experimentally in which atoms coherently exchange a photon with a single light-field mode many times before dissipation sets in. This has led to fundamental studies with both microwave and optical resonators. To meet the challenges posed by quantum state engineering and quantum information processing, recent experiments have focused on laser cooling and trapping of atoms inside an optical cavity. However, the tremendous degree of control over atomic gases achieved with Bose-Einstein condensation has so far not been used for cavity QED. Here we achieve the strong coupling of a Bose-Einstein condensate to the quantized field of an ultrahigh-finesse optical cavity and present a measurement of its eigenenergy spectrum. This is a conceptually new regime of cavity QED, in which all atoms occupy a single mode of a matter-wave field and couple identically to the light field, sharing a single excitation. This opens possibilities ranging from quantum communication to a wealth of new phenomena that can be expected in the many-body physics of quantum gases with cavity-mediated interactions.     

High-Q photonic nanocavity in a two-dimensional photonic crystal

Photonic cavities that strongly confine light are finding applications in many areas of physics and engineering, including coherent electron-photon interactions, ultra-small filters, low-threshold lasers, photonic chips, nonlinear optics and quantum information processing. Critical for these applications is the realization of a cavity with both high quality factor, Q, and small modal volume, V. The ratio Q/V determines the strength of the various cavity interactions, and an ultra-small cavity enables large-scale integration and single-mode operation for a broad range of wavelengths. However, a high-Q cavity of optical wavelength size is difficult to fabricate, as radiation loss increases in inverse proportion to cavity size. With the exception of a few recent theoretical studies, definitive theories and experiments for creating high-Q nanocavities have not been extensively investigated. Here we use a silicon-based two-dimensional photonic-crystal slab to fabricate a nanocavity with Q = 45,000 and V = 7.0 x 10(-14) cm3; the value of Q/V is 10-100 times larger than in previous studies. Underlying this development is the realization that light should be confined gently in order to be confined strongly. Integration with other photonic elements is straightforward, and a large free spectral range of 100 nm has been demonstrated.     

Experimental realization of a one-atom laser in the regime of strong coupling

Conventional lasers (from table-top systems to microscopic devices) typically operate in the so-called weak-coupling regime, involving large numbers of atoms and photons; individual quanta have a negligible impact on the system dynamics. However, this is no longer the case when the system approaches the regime of strong coupling for which the number of atoms and photons can become quite small. Indeed, the lasing properties of a single atom in a resonant cavity have been extensively investigated theoretically. Here we report the experimental realization of a one-atom laser operated in the regime of strong coupling. We exploit recent advances in cavity quantum electrodynamics that allow one atom to be isolated in an optical cavity in a regime for which one photon is sufficient to saturate the atomic transition. The observed characteristics of the atom-cavity system are qualitatively different from those of the familiar many-atom case. Specifically, our measurements of the intracavity photon number versus pump intensity indicate that there is no threshold for lasing, and we infer that the output flux from the cavity mode exceeds that from atomic fluorescence by more than tenfold. Observations of the second-order intensity correlation function demonstrate that our one-atom laser generates manifestly quantum (nonclassical) light, typified by photon anti-bunching and sub-poissonian photon statistics.     

Climbing the Jaynes-Cummings ladder and observing its nonlinearity in a cavity QED system

The field of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), traditionally studied in atomic systems, has gained new momentum by recent reports of quantum optical experiments with solid-state semiconducting and superconducting systems. In cavity QED, the observation of the vacuum Rabi mode splitting is used to investigate the nature of matter-light interaction at a quantum-mechanical level. However, this effect can, at least in principle, be explained classically as the normal mode splitting of two coupled linear oscillators. It has been suggested that an observation of the scaling of the resonant atom-photon coupling strength in the Jaynes-Cummings energy ladder with the square root of photon number n is sufficient to prove that the system is quantum mechanical in nature. Here we report a direct spectroscopic observation of this characteristic quantum nonlinearity. Measuring the photonic degree of freedom of the coupled system, our measurements provide unambiguous spectroscopic evidence for the quantum nature of the resonant atom-field interaction in cavity QED. We explore atom-photon superposition states involving up to two photons, using a spectroscopic pump and probe technique. The experiments have been performed in a circuit QED set-up, in which very strong coupling is realized by the large dipole coupling strength and the long coherence time of a superconducting qubit embedded in a high-quality on-chip microwave cavity. Circuit QED systems also provide a natural quantum interface between flying qubits (photons) and stationary qubits for applications in quantum information processing and communication.     

Channel plasmon subwavelength waveguide components including interferometers and ring resonators

Photonic components are superior to electronic ones in terms of operational bandwidth, but the diffraction limit of light poses a significant challenge to the miniaturization and high-density integration of optical circuits. The main approach to circumvent this problem is to exploit the hybrid nature of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), which are light waves coupled to free electron oscillations in a metal that can be laterally confined below the diffraction limit using subwavelength metal structures. However, the simultaneous realization of strong confinement and a propagation loss sufficiently low for practical applications has long been out of reach. Channel SPP modes--channel plasmon polaritons (CPPs)--are electromagnetic waves that are bound to and propagate along the bottom of V-shaped grooves milled in a metal film. They are expected to exhibit useful subwavelength confinement, relatively low propagation loss, single-mode operation and efficient transmission around sharp bends. Our previous experiments showed that CPPs do exist and that they propagate over tens of micrometres along straight subwavelength grooves. Here we report the design, fabrication and characterization of CPP-based subwavelength waveguide components operating at telecom wavelengths: Y-splitters, Mach-Zehnder interferometers and waveguide-ring resonators. We demonstrate that CPP guides can indeed be used for large-angle bending and splitting of radiation, thereby enabling the realization of ultracompact plasmonic components and paving the way for a new class of integrated optical circuits.     

Cavity solitons as pixels in semiconductor microcavities

Cavity solitons are localized intensity peaks that can form in a homogeneous background of radiation. They are generated by shining laser pulses into optical cavities that contain a nonlinear medium driven by a coherent field (holding beam). The ability to switch cavity solitons on and off and to control their location and motion by applying laser pulses makes them interesting as potential 'pixels' for reconfigurable arrays or all-optical processing units. Theoretical work on cavity solitons has stimulated a variety of experiments in macroscopic cavities and in systems with optical feedback. But for practical devices, it is desirable to generate cavity solitons in semiconductor structures, which would allow fast response and miniaturization. The existence of cavity solitons in semiconductor microcavities has been predicted theoretically, and precursors of cavity solitons have been observed, but clear experimental realization has been hindered by boundary-dependence of the resulting optical patterns-cavity solitons should be self-confined. Here we demonstrate the generation of cavity solitons in vertical cavity semiconductor microresonators that are electrically pumped above transparency but slightly below lasing threshold. We show that the generated optical spots can be written, erased and manipulated as objects independent of each other and of the boundary. Numerical simulations allow for a clearer interpretation of experimental results.     

An all-silicon Raman laser

The possibility of light generation and/or amplification in silicon has attracted a great deal of attention for silicon-based optoelectronic applications owing to the potential for forming inexpensive, monolithic integrated optical components. Because of its indirect bandgap, bulk silicon shows very inefficient band-to-band radiative electron-hole recombination. Light emission in silicon has thus focused on the use of silicon engineered materials such as nanocrystals, Si/SiO2 superlattices, erbium-doped silicon-rich oxides, surface-textured bulk silicon and Si/SiGe quantum cascade structures. Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) has recently been demonstrated as a mechanism to generate optical gain in planar silicon waveguide structures. In fact, net optical gain in the range 2-11 dB due to SRS has been reported in centimetre-sized silicon waveguides using pulsed pumping. Recently, a lasing experiment involving silicon as the gain medium by way of SRS was reported, where the ring laser cavity was formed by an 8-m-long optical fibre. Here we report the experimental demonstration of Raman lasing in a compact, all-silicon, waveguide cavity on a single silicon chip. This demonstration represents an important step towards producing practical continuous-wave optical amplifiers and lasers that could be integrated with other optoelectronic components onto CMOS-compatible silicon chips.     

Ultra-high-Q toroid microcavity on a chip

The circulation of light within dielectric volumes enables storage of optical power near specific resonant frequencies and is important in a wide range of fields including cavity quantum electrodynamics, photonics, biosensing and nonlinear optics. Optical trajectories occur near the interface of the volume with its surroundings, making their performance strongly dependent upon interface quality. With a nearly atomic-scale surface finish, surface-tension-induced microcavities such as liquid droplets or spheres are superior to all other dielectric microresonant structures when comparing photon lifetime or, equivalently, cavity Q factor. Despite these advantageous properties, the physical characteristics of such systems are not easily controlled during fabrication. It is known that wafer-based processing of resonators can achieve parallel processing and control, as well as integration with other functions. However, such resonators-on-a-chip suffer from Q factors that are many orders of magnitude lower than for surface-tension-induced microcavities, making them unsuitable for ultra-high-Q experiments. Here we demonstrate a process for producing silica toroid-shaped microresonators-on-a-chip with Q factors in excess of 100 million using a combination of lithography, dry etching and a selective reflow process. Such a high Q value was previously attainable only by droplets or microspheres and represents an improvement of nearly four orders of magnitude over previous chip-based resonators.     

微波等离子体推力器谐振腔电磁场分布研究

分析求解Maxwell方程。分别对矩形谐振腔和圆柱形谐振腔两种谐振腔的不同的谐振模式重要参数进行了分析计算。通过电磁场仿真重点对谐振腔内的电磁场进行编程计算,仿真分析微波等离子体推力器无加载谐振腔内的电磁场特性。为确定推力器最简单适用的谐振腔形式以及与其相应的谐振模式提供依据。     

A continuous-wave Raman silicon laser

Achieving optical gain and/or lasing in silicon has been one of the most challenging goals in silicon-based photonics because bulk silicon is an indirect bandgap semiconductor and therefore has a very low light emission efficiency. Recently, stimulated Raman scattering has been used to demonstrate light amplification and lasing in silicon. However, because of the nonlinear optical loss associated with two-photon absorption (TPA)-induced free carrier absorption (FCA), until now lasing has been limited to pulsed operation. Here we demonstrate a continuous-wave silicon Raman laser. Specifically, we show that TPA-induced FCA in silicon can be significantly reduced by introducing a reverse-biased p-i-n diode embedded in a silicon waveguide. The laser cavity is formed by coating the facets of the silicon waveguide with multilayer dielectric films. We have demonstrated stable single mode laser output with side-mode suppression of over 55 dB and linewidth of less than 80 MHz. The lasing threshold depends on the p-i-n reverse bias voltage and the laser wavelength can be tuned by adjusting the wavelength of the pump laser. The demonstration of a continuous-wave silicon laser represents a significant milestone for silicon-based optoelectronic devices.     

Ultralow-threshold Raman laser using a spherical dielectric microcavity

The ability to confine and store optical energy in small volumes has implications in fields ranging from cavity quantum electrodynamics to photonics. Of all cavity geometries, micrometre-sized dielectric spherical resonators are the best in terms of their ability to store energy for long periods of time within small volumes. In the sphere, light orbits near the surface, where long confinement times (high Q) effectively wrap a large interaction distance into a tiny volume. This characteristic makes such resonators uniquely suited for studies of nonlinear coupling of light with matter. Early work recognized these attributes through Raman excitation in microdroplets-but microdroplets have not been used in practical applications. Here we demonstrate a micrometre-scale, nonlinear Raman source that has a highly efficient pump-signal conversion (higher than 35%) and pump thresholds nearly 1,000 times lower than shown before. This represents a route to compact, ultralow-threshold sources for numerous wavelength bands that are usually difficult to access. Equally important, this system can provide a compact and simple building block for studying nonlinear optical effects and the quantum aspects of light.     

一种同轴腔微波等离子体反应器的设计及电磁场计算

设计了一种同轴腔微波等离子体反应器，推导了谐振腔内电磁场分布表达式，对谐振腔中的电磁分布进行了数值计算，得到与理论推导结果相对应的场强分布图。同时采用HFSS软件对本文设计的同轴谐振腔等离子体反应器进行电磁场的模拟仿真，优化出谐振腔的最优尺寸和场强分布图。软件模拟与理论推导结果吻合，说明了本方案设计的可靠性。本文设计的谐振腔固有品质因数可达17800，峰值场强高达9.29×10³V/(m·W)，且分布均匀，微波能量集中，有利于反应气体产生放电。     

利用Fabry-Perot谐振腔和介质谐振天线实现约瑟夫森结阵列的自辐射

本文提出了一种利用Fabry-Perot谐振腔和介质谐振天线,同时集成偶极天线阵实现约瑟夫森结阵列自辐射的方法.在介质基片上制作集成偶极天线阵的双晶约瑟夫森结阵列,并将其嵌入到Fabry-Perot谐振腔内.将基片作为一介质谐振天线,使其与Fabry-Perot谐振腔谐振在同一频率下,从而通过高频电磁耦合机制实现结之间以及结与外部微波电路之间的耦合.文中分别进行了数值仿真和实验研究.对一个包含166个双晶约瑟夫森结的结阵列进行了液氮温度时的测试,在片外（off-chip）检测到了75.2GHz,10pW的辐射信号,与仿真结果吻合.该方法为基于约瑟夫森效应的太赫兹（THz）源提供了一种可能.     

高斯正支共焦非稳腔光束质量测量结果与分析

利用美国Spiricon公司生产的M2-200 Beam Propagation Analyzer(M2仪)测量了氙灯泵浦Nd:YAG的正支高斯非稳腔脉冲激光器的腔长变化对输出光束质量的影响。简要叙述了M2仪的使用方法和测量过程,介绍了几种评价光束质量的物理量。通过观测和分析,正支高斯非稳腔腔长的变化会影响输出光束的质量。实验中发现,当腔长为78 cm时光束质量最佳,此结果与理论值78.6cm很相近。误差主要来自两个方面:一是谐振腔内等效透镜主面位置测量不准确;二是腔内含有晶体棒时,腔长计算不精确。离焦比较大时光束质量明显变差,M2和发散角都很大;与腔镜的失谐灵敏度相比,高斯共焦非稳腔对腔长的失谐灵敏度小,失谐容忍度大。通过测量结果的对比得出,用M2因子评价光束质量是一个较好的选择。     

Electromagnetically induced transparency with resonant nuclei in a cavity

The manipulation of light-matter interactions by quantum control of atomic levels has had a profound impact on optical sciences. Such manipulation has many applications, including nonlinear optics at the few-photon level, slow light, lasing without inversion and optical quantum information processing. The critical underlying technique is electromagnetically induced transparency, in which quantum interference between transitions in multilevel atoms renders an opaque medium transparent near an atomic resonance. With the advent of high-brilliance, accelerator-driven light sources such as storage rings or X-ray lasers, it has become attractive to extend the techniques of optical quantum control to the X-ray regime. Here we demonstrate electromagnetically induced transparency in the regime of hard X-rays, using the 14.4-kiloelectronvolt nuclear resonance of the M?ssbauer isotope iron-57 (a two-level system). We exploit cooperative emission from ensembles of the nuclei, which are embedded in a low-finesse cavity and excited by synchrotron radiation. The spatial modulation of the photonic density of states in a cavity mode leads to the coexistence of superradiant and subradiant states of nuclei, respectively located at an antinode and a node of the cavity field. This scheme causes the nuclei to behave as effective three-level systems, with two degenerate levels in the excited state (one of which can be considered metastable). The radiative coupling of the nuclear ensembles by the cavity field establishes the atomic coherence necessary for the cancellation of resonant absorption. Because this technique does not require atomic systems with a metastable level, electromagnetically induced transparency and its applications can be transferred to the regime of nuclear resonances, establishing the field of nuclear quantum optics.     

Phase-resolved measurements of stimulated emission in a laser

Lasers are usually described by their output frequency and intensity. However, laser operation is an inherently nonlinear process. Knowledge about the dynamic behaviour of lasers is thus of great importance for detailed understanding of laser operation and for improvement in performance for applications. Of particular interest is the time domain within the coherence time of the optical transition. This time is determined by the oscillation period of the laser radiation and thus is very short. Rigorous quantum mechanical models predict interesting effects like quantum beats, lasing without inversion, and photon echo processes. As these models are based on quantum coherence and interference, knowledge of the phase within the optical cycle is of particular interest. Laser radiation has so far been measured using intensity detectors, which are sensitive to the square of the electric field. Therefore information about the sign and phase of the laser radiation is lost. Here we use an electro-optic detection scheme to measure the amplitude and phase of stimulated radiation, and correlate this radiation directly with an input probing pulse. We have applied this technique to semiconductor quantum cascade lasers, which are coherent sources operating at frequencies between the optical (>100 THz) and electronic (<0.5 THz) ranges. In addition to the phase information, we can also determine the spectral gain, the bias dependence of this gain, and obtain an insight into the evolution of the laser field.     

Tunable nanowire nonlinear optical probe

One crucial challenge for subwavelength optics has been the development of a tunable source of coherent laser radiation for use in the physical, information and biological sciences that is stable at room temperature and physiological conditions. Current advanced near-field imaging techniques using fibre-optic scattering probes have already achieved spatial resolution down to the 20-nm range. Recently reported far-field approaches for optical microscopy, including stimulated emission depletion, structured illumination, and photoactivated localization microscopy, have enabled impressive, theoretically unlimited spatial resolution of fluorescent biomolecular complexes. Previous work with laser tweezers has suggested that optical traps could be used to create novel spatial probes and sensors. Inorganic nanowires have diameters substantially below the wavelength of visible light and have electronic and optical properties that make them ideal for subwavelength laser and imaging technology. Here we report the development of an electrode-free, continuously tunable coherent visible light source compatible with physiological environments, from individual potassium niobate (KNbO3) nanowires. These wires exhibit efficient second harmonic generation, and act as frequency converters, allowing the local synthesis of a wide range of colours via sum and difference frequency generation. We use this tunable nanometric light source to implement a novel form of subwavelength microscopy, in which an infrared laser is used to optically trap and scan a nanowire over a sample, suggesting a wide range of potential applications in physics, chemistry, materials science and biology.     

微波均衡器中微调螺钉的作用研究

微波幅度均衡器是由吸收型同轴谐振腔作为其基本结构单元多级级联实现,谐振频率主要通过改变腔长和探针插入深度来调节,同时改变微调螺钉也能影响谐振频率.论文从理论上阐述了微调螺钉对同轴谐振腔谐振频率的影响程度,在电场占优的地方,螺钉插入越深,降低谐振频率;反之,在磁场占优的地方,螺钉插入越深,增大谐振频率.并利用HFSS软件仿真子结构谐振腔的电磁场分布,从而确定微调螺钉的位置.根据微调螺钉对谐振频率影响的规律,采用补偿调试的方法还能减小温度对谐振频率的影响,同时,微调螺钉还能抑制寄生模的产生.     

Quantum nature of a strongly coupled single quantum dot-cavity system

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) studies the interaction between a quantum emitter and a single radiation-field mode. When an atom is strongly coupled to a cavity mode, it is possible to realize important quantum information processing tasks, such as controlled coherent coupling and entanglement of distinguishable quantum systems. Realizing these tasks in the solid state is clearly desirable, and coupling semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots to monolithic optical cavities is a promising route to this end. However, validating the efficacy of quantum dots in quantum information applications requires confirmation of the quantum nature of the quantum-dot-cavity system in the strong-coupling regime. Here we find such confirmation by observing quantum correlations in photoluminescence from a photonic crystal nanocavity interacting with one, and only one, quantum dot located precisely at the cavity electric field maximum. When off-resonance, photon emission from the cavity mode and quantum-dot excitons is anticorrelated at the level of single quanta, proving that the mode is driven solely by the quantum dot despite an energy mismatch between cavity and excitons. When tuned to resonance, the exciton and cavity enter the strong-coupling regime of cavity QED and the quantum-dot exciton lifetime reduces by a factor of 145. The generated photon stream becomes antibunched, proving that the strongly coupled exciton/photon system is in the quantum regime. Our observations unequivocally show that quantum information tasks are achievable in solid-state cavity QED.