APS March Meeting 2012
Volume 57, Number 1
Monday–Friday, February 27–March 2 2012;
Boston, Massachusetts
Session H10: Invited Session: Strongly Interacting Photons
8:00 AM–11:00 AM,
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Room: 210A
Sponsoring
Unit:
DAMOP
Chair: Mikhail Lukin, Harvard University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2012.MAR.H10.5
Abstract: H10.00005 : Fast optical control of atom-light interactions using quantum dots coupled to photonic crystal cavities
10:24 AM–11:00 AM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
Edo Waks
(University of Maryland)
Quantum dots (QDs) are stable, bright, semiconductor based light emitters that exhibit a
quantized energy spectrum. For these reasons they are excellent candidates for
development of lasers, optoelectronic components, and could serve as basic building
blocks for future quantum information technology. By coupling these nanostructures to
optical cavities the interaction strength between QDs and light can be significantly
increased. Photonic crystals (materials with a periodic index of refraction) are
particularly promising for enhancing these interactions due to their ability to guide and
confine light on the size scale of an optical wavelength. Photonic crystal based optical
cavities have already been shown to enable the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum
electrodynamics (cQED). In this regime a significant modification of both the QD
emission spectrum and cavity reflectivity can be observed due to quantum mechanical
mixing of atom-photon states.
Control of QD-photon interactions on fast timescales is an important capability that
enables strong nonlinear optical effects, opening up the door for a new class of
opto-electronic devices at ultra-low light levels. It could also provide a promising
route towards quantum information processing using photons and QDs to store and transmit
quantum coherence. Here we describe a method to achieve fast all-optical control of
atom-light interactions using indium arsenide (InAs) QDs coupled to photonic crystal
cavities. We show that a QD strongly coupled to a photonic crystal cavity can exhibit
very large optical Stark shifts due to resonant cavity enhancement of the electromagnetic
field. Stark shifts as large as 20 GHz are demonstrated with as few as 10 photons in the
cavity. These shifts can be used to control the QD resonant frequency on fast time
scales, and therefore modify its interactions with the optical cavity through resonant
detuning. Using this approach we demonstrate the ability to perform all optical switching
with control pulse energies as small as 400 photons and switching times as fast as 140
ps. The approach can be improved through better cavity coupling methods to approach
nonlinear optics near the single photon level.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2012.MAR.H10.5