ENGLISH

Cooperative Optical Non-Linearity in a Blockaded Rydberg Ensemble

By Jonathan D. Pritchard (auth.)

Book information

Publisher
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year
2012
ISBN
978-3-642-29711-3, 978-3-642-29712-0
DOI
10.1007/978-3-642-29712-0
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
4 MB (4520047 bytes)
Series
Springer Theses
Edition
1
Pages
158\149
Orientation
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2013-08-01 04:00:00
OptoelectronicsPlasmonics and Optical DevicesQuantum Optics;Nonlinear Dynamics;Quantum Physics;

Description

This thesis describes the first demonstration of a cooperative optical non-linearity based on Rydberg excitation. Whereas in conventional non-linear optics the non-linearity arises directly from the interaction between light and matter, in a cooperative process it is mediated by dipole-dipole interactions between light-induced excitations. For excitation to high Rydberg states where the electron is only weakly bound, the dipole-dipole interactions are extremely large and long range, enabling an enormous enhancement of the non-linear effect. Consequently, cooperative non-linear optics using Rydberg excitations opens a new era for quantum optics enabling large single photon non-linearity to be accessible in free space for the first time. The thesis describes the theoretical underpinnings of the non- linear effect, the pioneering experimental results and implications for experiments in the single photon regime.

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