A concept for a low loss all-reflective cavity coupler is experimentally demonstrated at a wavelength of 1064 nm. A 1450 nm period dielectric reflection grating with a diffraction efficiency of 0.58 % in the -1st order is used in 2nd order Littrow configuration as a coupler to form a cavity with a finesse of 400. The application of such reflective low-loss cavity couplers in future generations of gravitational-wave detectors as well as some implementation issues are discussed.
Macroscopic mechanical objects and electromagnetic degrees of freedom couple to each other via radiation pressure. Optomechanical systems with sufficiently strong coupling are predicted to exhibit quantum effects and are a topic of considerable interest. Devices reaching this regime would offer new types of control of the quantum state of both light and matter and would provide a new arena in which to explore the boundary between quantum and classical physics. Experiments to date have achieved sufficient optomechanical coupling to laser-cool mechanical devices but have not yet reached the quantum regime. The outstanding technical challenge in this field is integrating sensitive micromechanical elements (which must be small, light, and flexible) into high finesse cavities (which are typically much more rigid and massive) without compromising the mechanical or optical properties of either. A second, and more fundamental, challenge is to read out the mechanical elements quantum state: displacement measurements (no matter how sensitive) cannot determine the energy eigenstate of an oscillator, and measurements which couple to quantities other than displacement have been difficult to realize. Here we present a novel optomechanical system which seems to resolve both these challenges. We demonstrate a cavity which is detuned by the motion of a thin dielectric membrane placed between two macroscopic, rigid, high-finesse mirrors. This approach segregates optical and mechanical functionality to physically distinct structures and avoids compromising either. It also allows for direct measurement of the square of the membranes displacement, and thus in principle the membranes energy eigenstate. We estimate it should be practical to use this scheme to observe quantum jumps of a mechanical system.
The quadrupole S$_{1/2}$ -- D$_{5/2}$ optical transition of a single trapped Ca$^+$ ion, well suited for encoding a quantum bit of information, is coherently coupled to the standing wave field of a high finesse cavity. The coupling is verified by observing the ions response to both spatial and temporal variations of the intracavity field. We also achieve deterministic coupling of the cavity mode to the ions vibrational state by selectively exciting vibrational state-changing transitions and by controlling the position of the ion in the standing wave field with nanometer-precision.
A theoretical study is carried out for the cavity cooling of a $Lambda$-type three level atom in a high-finesse optical cavity with a weakly driven field. Analytical expressions for the friction, diffusion coefficients and the equilibrium temperatures are obtained by using the Heisenberg equations, then they are calculated numerically and shown graphically as a function of controlling parameters. For a suitable choice of these parameters, the dynamics of the cavity field interaction with the $Lambda$-type three-level atom introduces a sisyphus cooling mechanism yielding lower temperatures below the Doppler limit and allowing larger cooling rate, avoiding the problems induced by spontaneous emission.
We describe an ion-based cavity-QED system in which the internal dynamics of an atom is coupled to the modes of an optical cavity by vacuum-stimulated Raman transitions. We observe Raman spectra for different excitation polarizations and find quantitative agreement with theoretical simulations. Residual motion of the ion introduces motional sidebands in the Raman spectrum and leads to ion delocalization. The system offers prospects for cavity-assisted resolved-sideband ground-state cooling and coherent manipulation of ions and photons.
We demonstrate the fabrication of ultra-low-loss, all-fiber Fabry-Perot cavities containing a nanofiber section, optimized for cavity quantum electrodynamics. By continuously monitoring the finesse and fiber radius during fabrication of a nanofiber between two fiber Bragg gratings, we are able to precisely evaluate taper transmission as a function of radius. The resulting cavities have an internal round-trip loss of only 0.31% at a nanofiber waist radius of 207 nm, with a total finesse of 1380, and a maximum expected internal cooperativity of $sim$ 1050 for a cesium atom on the nanofiber surface. Our ability to fabricate such high-finesse nanofiber cavities may open the door for the realization of high-fidelity scalable quantum networks.