Hemispherical optical microcavity for cavity-QED strong coupling

• Main Author: Hannigan, Justin Michio, 1977-
• Language: en_US
• Published: University of Oregon 2010
• Subjects: Optical microcavity; Strong coupling; Quantum dots; Quantum physics; Optics
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10548

xv, 204 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. === This thesis reports on progress made toward realizing strong cavity quantum electrodynamics coupling in a novel micro-cavity operating close to the hemispherical limit. Micro-cavities are ubiquitous wherever the aim is observing strong interactions in the low-energy limit. The cavity used in this work boasts a novel combination of properties. It utilizes a curved mirror with radius in the range of 40-60 µm that exhibits high reflectivity over a large solid angle and is capable of producing a diffraction limited mode waist in the approach to the hemispherical limit. This small waist implies a correspondingly small effective mode volume due to concentration of the field into a small transverse distance. The cavity assembled for this investigation possesses suitably low loss (suitably low linewidth) to observe vacuum Rabi splitting under suitable conditions. According to best estimates for the relevant system parameters, this system should be capable of displaying strong coupling. The dipole coupling strength, cavity loss and quantum dot dephasing rates are estimated to be, respectively, g = 35µeV, κ = 30µeV, and γ = 15µeV. A survey of two different distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) samples was carried out. Four different probe lasers were used to measure transmission spectra for the coupled cavity-QED system. The system initially failed to display strong coupling due to the available lasers being too far from the design wavelength of the spacer layer, corresponding to a loss of field strength at the location of the quantum dots. Unfortunately, the only available lasers capable of probing the design wavelength of the spacer layer had technical problems that prevented us from obtaining clean spectra. Both a Ti:Al 2 O 3 and a diode laser were used to measure transmission over the design wavelength range. The cavity used here has many promising features and should be capable of displaying strong coupling. It is believed that with a laser system centered at the design wavelength and possessing low enough linewidth and single-mode operation across a wide wavelength range strong coupling should be observable in this system. === Committee in charge: Hailin Wang, Chairperson, Physics; Michael Raymer, Advisor, Physics; Jens Noeckel, Member, Physics; Richard Taylor, Member, Physics; Andrew Marcus, Outside Member, Chemistry