152 research outputs found
Optomechanically induced transparency
Coherent interaction of laser radiation with multilevel atoms and molecules
can lead to quantum interference in the electronic excitation pathways. A
prominent example observed in atomic three-level-systems is the phenomenon of
electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), in which a control laser
induces a narrow spectral transparency window for a weak probe laser beam. The
concomitant rapid variation of the refractive index in this spectral window can
give rise to dramatic reduction of the group velocity of a propagating pulse of
probe light. Dynamic control of EIT via the control laser enables even a
complete stop, that is, storage, of probe light pulses in the atomic medium.
Here, we demonstrate optomechanically induced transparency (OMIT)--formally
equivalent to EIT--in a cavity optomechanical system operating in the resolved
sideband regime. A control laser tuned to the lower motional sideband of the
cavity resonance induces a dipole-like interaction of optical and mechanical
degrees of freedom. Under these conditions, the destructive interference of
excitation pathways for an intracavity probe field gives rise to a window of
transparency when a two-photon resonance condition is met. As a salient feature
of EIT, the power of the control laser determines the width and depth of the
probe transparency window. OMIT could therefore provide a new approach for
delaying, slowing and storing light pulses in long-lived mechanical excitations
of optomechanical systems, whose optical and mechanical properties can be
tailored in almost arbitrary ways in the micro- and nano-optomechanical
platforms developed to date
Octave Spanning Frequency Comb on a Chip
Optical frequency combs have revolutionized the field of frequency metrology
within the last decade and have become enabling tools for atomic clocks, gas
sensing and astrophysical spectrometer calibration. The rapidly increasing
number of applications has heightened interest in more compact comb generators.
Optical microresonator based comb generators bear promise in this regard.
Critical to their future use as 'frequency markers', is however the absolute
frequency stabilization of the optical comb spectrum. A powerful technique for
this stabilization is self-referencing, which requires a spectrum that spans a
full octave, i.e. a factor of two in frequency. In the case of mode locked
lasers, overcoming the limited bandwidth has become possible only with the
advent of photonic crystal fibres for supercontinuum generation. Here, we
report for the first time the generation of an octave-spanning frequency comb
directly from a toroidal microresonator on a silicon chip. The comb spectrum
covers the wavelength range from 990 nm to 2170 nm and is retrieved from a
continuous wave laser interacting with the modes of an ultra high Q
microresonator, without relying on external broadening. Full tunability of the
generated frequency comb over a bandwidth exceeding an entire free spectral
range is demonstrated. This allows positioning of a frequency comb mode to any
desired frequency within the comb bandwidth. The ability to derive octave
spanning spectra from microresonator comb generators represents a key step
towards achieving a radio-frequency to optical link on a chip, which could
unify the fields of metrology with micro- and nano-photonics and enable
entirely new devices that bring frequency metrology into a chip scale setting
for compact applications such as space based optical clocks
Optomechanical sideband cooling of a micromechanical oscillator close to the quantum ground state
Cooling a mesoscopic mechanical oscillator to its quantum ground state is
elementary for the preparation and control of low entropy quantum states of
large scale objects. Here, we pre-cool a 70-MHz micromechanical silica
oscillator to an occupancy below 200 quanta by thermalizing it with a 600-mK
cold 3He gas. Two-level system induced damping via structural defect states is
shown to be strongly reduced, and simultaneously serves as novel thermometry
method to independently quantify excess heating due to the cooling laser. We
demonstrate that dynamical backaction sideband cooling can reduce the average
occupancy to 9+-1 quanta, implying that the mechanical oscillator can be found
(10+- 1)% of the time in its quantum ground state.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Negative oxygen vacancies in HfO as charge traps in high-k stacks
We calculated the optical excitation and thermal ionization energies of
oxygen vacancies in m-HfO using atomic basis sets, a non-local density
functional and periodic supercell. The thermal ionization energies of
negatively charged V and V centres are consistent with values
obtained by the electrical measurements. The results suggest that negative
oxygen vacancies are the likely candidates for intrinsic electron traps in the
hafnum-based gate stack devices.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure
Modelling charge self-trapping in wide-gap dielectrics: Localization problem in local density functionals
We discuss the adiabatic self-trapping of small polarons within the density
functional theory (DFT). In particular, we carried out plane-wave
pseudo-potential calculations of the triplet exciton in NaCl and found no
energy minimum corresponding to the self-trapped exciton (STE) contrary to the
experimental evidence and previous calculations. To explore the origin of this
problem we modelled the self-trapped hole in NaCl using hybrid density
functionals and an embedded cluster method. Calculations show that the
stability of the self-trapped state of the hole drastically depends on the
amount of the exact exchange in the density functional: at less than 30% of the
Hartree-Fock exchange, only delocalized hole is stable, at 50% - both
delocalized and self-trapped states are stable, while further increase of exact
exchange results in only the self-trapped state being stable. We argue that the
main contributions to the self-trapping energy such as the kinetic energy of
the localizing charge, the chemical bond formation of the di-halogen quasi
molecule, and the lattice polarization, are represented incorrectly within the
Kohn-Sham (KS) based approaches.Comment: 6 figures, 1 tabl
Atomistic modelling of radiation effects: Towards dynamics of exciton relaxation
This brief review is focused on recent results of atomistic modelling and simulation of exciton related processes in ionic materials. We present an analysis of thermal fluctuations of the electrostatic potential in cubic ionic crystals and their relation to formation of a tail in the electron density of states and localisation of electronic states. Then the possible 'fast' mechanism of formation of F-H pairs in KBr as a result of decomposition of relaxing excitons is discussed. We briefly describe some ideas related to the possibility of coherent control of exciton decomposition into Frenkel defects in alkali halides. Next we turn to the results of modelling of exciton excitation and localisation at the low-coordinated surface sites of MgO. And finally, we present the results of quantum-mechanical simulation of peroxy linkages and their reaction which creates oxygen molecules in silica. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
A chip-scale integrated cavity-electro-optomechanics platform
We present an integrated optomechanical and electromechanical nanocavity, in
which a common mechanical degree of freedom is coupled to an ultrahigh-Q
photonic crystal defect cavity and an electrical circuit. The sys- tem allows
for wide-range, fast electrical tuning of the optical nanocavity resonances,
and for electrical control of optical radiation pressure back-action effects
such as mechanical amplification (phonon lasing), cooling, and stiffening.
These sort of integrated devices offer a new means to efficiently interconvert
weak microwave and optical signals, and are expected to pave the way for a new
class of micro-sensors utilizing optomechanical back-action for thermal noise
reduction and low-noise optical read-out.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
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