122 research outputs found
Optimal all-optical switching of a microcavity resonance in the telecom range using the electronic Kerr effect
We have switched GaAs/AlAs and AlGaAs/AlAs planar microcavities that operate
in the "Original" (O) telecom band by exploiting the instantaneous electronic
Kerr effect. We observe that the resonance frequency reversibly shifts within
one picosecond. We investigate experimentally and theoretically the role of
several main parameters: the material backbone and its electronic bandgap, the
pump power, the quality factor, and the duration of the switch pulse. The
magnitude of the shift is reduced when the backbone of the central
layer has a greater electronic bandgap; pumping with photon energies
near the bandgap resonantly enhances the switched magnitude. Our model shows
that the magnitude of the resonance frequency shift depends on the pump pulse
duration and is maximized when the duration matches the cavity storage time
that is set by the quality factor. We provide the settings for the essential
parameters so that the frequency shift of the cavity resonance can be increased
to one linewidth
Differential ultrafast all-optical switching of the resonances of a micropillar cavity
We perform frequency- and time-resolved all-optical switching of a GaAs-AlAs
micropillar cavity using an ultrafast pump-probe setup. The switching is
achieved by two-photon excitation of free carriers. We track the cavity
resonances in time with a high frequency resolution. The pillar modes exhibit
simultaneous frequency shifts, albeit with markedly different maximum switching
amplitudes and relaxation dynamics. These differences stem from the
non-uniformity of the free carrier density in the micropillar, and are well
understood by taking into account the spatial distribution of injected free
carriers, their spatial diffusion and surface recombination at micropillar
sidewalls.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Non-linear coupling between the two oscillation modes of a dc-SQUID
5 pagesInternational audienceWe make a detailed theoretical description of the two-dimensional nature of a dc-SQUID, analyzing the coupling between its two orthogonal phase oscillation modes. While it has been shown that the mode defined as ''longitudinal" can be initialized, manipulated and measured, so as to encode a quantum bit of information, the mode defined as ''transverse" is usually repelled at high frequency and does not interfere in the dynamics. We show that, using typical parameters of existing devices, the transverse mode energy can be made of the order of the longitudinal one. In this regime, we can observe a strong coupling between these modes, described by an Hamiltonian providing a wide range of interesting effects, such as conditional quantum operations and entanglement. This coupling also creates an atomic-like structure for the combined two mode states, with a V-like scheme
Optical characterization and selective addressing of the resonant modes of a micropillar cavity with a white light beam
We have performed white-light reflectivity measurements on GaAs/AlAs
micropillar cavities with diameters ranging from 1 {\mu}m up to 20 {\mu}m. We
are able to resolve the spatial field distribution of each cavity mode in real
space by scanning a small-sized beam across the top facet of each micropillar.
We spectrally resolve distinct transverse optical cavity modes in reflectivity.
Using this procedure we can selectively address a single mode in the multimode
micropillar cavity. Calculations for the coupling efficiency of a
small-diameter beam to each mode are in very good agreement with our
reflectivity measurements.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Rabi-like oscillations of an anharmonic oscillator: classical versus quantum interpretation
8 pagesInternational audienceWe have observed Rabi-like oscillations in a current-biased dc SQUID presenting enhanced coherence times compared to our previous realization~\cite{Claudon_PRL04}. This Josephson device behaves as an anharmonic oscillator which can be driven into a coherent superposition of quantum states by resonant microwave flux pulses. Increasing the microwave amplitude, we study the evolution of the Rabi frequency from the 2-level regime to the regime of multilevel dynamics. When up to levels are involved, the Rabi frequency is a clear signature of quantum behavior. At higher excitation amplitude, classical and quantum predictions for the Rabi frequency converge. This result is discussed in the light of a calculation of the Wigner function. In particular, our analysis shows that pronounced quantum interferences always appear in the course of the Rabi-like oscillations
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