1,433 research outputs found
Real-time detection of individual atoms falling through a high-finesse optical cavity
The enhanced coupling between atoms and photons inside a high-finesse optical cavity provides a novel basis for optical measurements that continuously monitor atomic degrees of freedom. We describe an experiment in which cavity quantum-electrodynamic effects are utilized for real-time detection of individual atoms falling through an optical cavity after being dropped from a magneto-optical trap. Our technique permits experiments that are triggered by the presence of a single optimally coupled atom within the cavity mode volume
The dressed atom as binary phase modulator: towards attojoule/edge optical phase-shift keying
Nanophotonic technologies offer great promise for ultra-low power optical
signal processing, but relatively few nonlinear-optical phenomena have yet been
explored as bases for robust digital
modulation/switching~\cite{Yang07,Fara08,Liu10,Noza10}. Here we show that a
single two-level system (TLS) coupled strongly to an optical resonator can
impart binary phase modulation on a saturating probe beam. Our experiment
relies on spontaneous emission to induce occasional transitions between
positive and negative phase shifts---with each such edge corresponding to a
dissipated energy of just one photon ( aJ)---but an optical
control beam could be used to trigger additional phase switching at signalling
rates above this background. Although our ability to demonstrate controlled
switching in our atom-based experiment is limited, we discuss prospects for
exploiting analogous physics in a nanophotonic device incorporating a quantum
dot as the TLS to realize deterministic binary phase modulation with control
power in the aJ/edge regime.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Blue-light induced infrared absorption in KNbO3
We have used a high-finesse cavity to measure the cw intensity dependence and dynamics of blue-light-induced infrared absorption (BLIIRA) in KNbO3 crystals for blue-light intensities between 7 x 10^-4 and 2 x 10^4 W/cm^2. We discuss the detrimental effects of BLIIRA on the efficiency of intracavity frequency doubling and the threshold for parametric oscillation
Design of nanophotonic circuits for autonomous subsystem quantum error correction
We reapply our approach to designing nanophotonic quantum memories to
formulate an optical network that autonomously protects a single logical qubit
against arbitrary single-qubit errors. Emulating the 9 qubit Bacon-Shor
subsystem code, the network replaces the traditionally discrete syndrome
measurement and correction steps by continuous, time-independent optical
interactions and coherent feedback of unitarily processed optical fields.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
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