6 research outputs found
Non-reciprocal phase shift induced by an effective magnetic flux for light
Photons are neutral particles that do not interact directly with a magnetic field. However, recent theoretical work has shown that an effective magnetic field for photons can exist if the phase of light changes with its direction of propagation. This direction-dependent phase indicates the presence of an effective magnetic field, as shown experimentally for electrons in the Aharonov–Bohm experiment. Here, we replicate this experiment using photons. To create this effective magnetic field we construct an on-chip silicon-based Ramsey-type interferometer. This interferometer has been traditionally used to probe the phase of atomic states and here we apply it to probe the phase of photonic states. We experimentally observe an effective magnetic flux between 0 and 2π corresponding to a non-reciprocal 2π phase shift with an interferometer length of 8.35 mm and an interference-fringe extinction ratio of 2.4 dB. This non-reciprocal phase is comparable to those of common monolithically integrated magneto-optical materials
Observation of an Effective Magnetic field for Light
Photons are neutral particles that do not interact directly with a magnetic
field. However, recent theoretical work has shown that an effective magnetic
field for photons can exist if the phase of light would change with its
propagating direction. This direction-dependent phase indicates the presence of
an effective magnetic field as shown for electrons experimentally in the
Aharonov-Bohm experiment. Here we replicate this experiment using photons. In
order to create this effective magnetic field, we construct an on-chip
silicon-based Ramsey-type interferometer. This interferometer has been
traditionally used to probe the phase of atomic states, and here we apply it to
probe the phase of photonic states. We experimentally observe a phase change,
i.e. an effective magnetic field flux from 0 to 2pi. In an Aharonov-Bohm
configuration for electrons, considering the device geometry, this flux
corresponds to an effective magnetic field of 0.2 Gauss.Comment: 15 pages and 4 figure
Supplement 1: On-chip mode-division multiplexing switch
Originally published in Optica on 20 June 2015 (optica-2-6-530