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arXiv:1011.0349 · Physical Review A

Enhanced two-photon absorption in a hollow-core photonic-band-gap fiber

Kasturi Saha, Vivek Venkataraman, Pablo Londero, Alexander L. Gaeta

Published Mar 30, 2011• 35 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We show that two-photon absorption (TPA) in rubidium atoms can be greatly enhanced by the use of a hollow-core photonic-band-gap fiber. We investigate off-resonant, degenerate Doppler-free TPA on the $5{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5{D}_{5/2}$ transition and observe $1%$ absorption of a pump beam with a total power of only 1 mW in the fiber. These results are verified by measuring the amount of emitted blue fluorescence and are consistent with the theoretical predictions which indicate that transit-time effects play an important role in determining the two-photon absorption cross section in a confined geometry.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.83.033833

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Low-light-level optical nonlinearities are of significant interest for performing operations such as single-photon switching and quantum non-demolition measurements on single-photons. To evoke strong nonlinearities from singlephotons, one can enhance the matter-photon interaction using strongly nonlinear materials such as alkali vapors in combination with an appropriate geometry such as a waveguide, which provides a long interaction length while maintaining a small light mode area. We demonstrate for the first time that such a system can be experimentally realized by loading rubidium vapor inside a hollow-core photonic band-gap fiber. Using the technique of light-induced atomic desorption in this geometry, we have generated optical depths greater than 1000. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with control powers 1000 times lower than those used for hot vapor cells in a focused beam geometry. Working with such a high aspect ratio geometry requires us to identify and measure the various sources of decoherence via spectroscopy of desorbed atoms in the fiber. Using such techniques, we also estimate the temperature of the desorbing atoms inside the fiber. The desorption mechanism is studied, and we show that pulsed desorption beams of the right amplitude and duration can be used for generating precisely controlled optical depths. Finally, we investigate the use of various buffer gas techniques for increasing the effective transverse path of the atoms as they move across the fiber in order to reduce their ground state decoherence and map this effect as a function of buffer gas pressure.

•Apr 9, 2010•0 citations
We show that two-photon absorption (TPA) in rubidium atoms can be greatly enhanced by the use of a hollow-core photonic-band-gap fiber. We investigate off-resonant, degenerate Doppler-free TPA on the 5S1/2\ensuremath→5D5/25{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5{D}_{5/2}5S1/2​\ensuremath→5D5/2​ transition and observe 11%1 absorption of a pump beam with a total power of only 1 mW in the fiber. These results are verified by measuring the amount of emitted blue fluorescence and are consistent with the theoretical predictions which indicate that transit-time effects play an important role in determining the two-photon absorption cross section in a confined geometry.
We demonstrate 25% all-optical modulation with <20 photons, i.e., a few attojoules of energy, using nondegenerate two-photon absorption in rubidium atoms confined to a hollow-core photonic band-gap fiber. An attenuation of up to 3 dB is induced on an optical field with a switching energy density of less than one photon per (λ(2)/2π). We show that the temporal response of the system is determined by the 5-ns transit time of the atoms across the optical mode of the fiber, which results in a modulation bandwidth up to 50 MHz.
We present two-photon spectroscopy of a thermal rubidium vapor confined to the hollow core of a photonic-crystal fiber. Linewidths as narrow as 10 MHz were observed on the $5{S}_{1/2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5{D}_{5/2}$ transition enabling the hyperfine splitting of the excited state to be resolved. Very strong nonlinear absorption (>90>90%>90) was observed, with substantial absorption maintained over large detunings (9 GHz) from an intermediate state. These attributes make this system ideal for many frequency metrology and quantum optics applications.
Recent demonstrations of light-matter interactions with atoms and molecules confined to hollow waveguides offer great promise for ultralow-light-level applications. The use of waveguides allows for tight optical confinement over interaction lengths much greater than what could be achieved in bulk geometries. However, the combination of strong atom-photon interactions and nonuniformity of guided light modes gives rise to spectroscopic features that must be understood in order to take full advantage of the properties of such systems. We use light-induced atomic desorption to generate an optically dense Rb vapor at room temperature inside a hollow-core photonic band-gap fiber. Saturable-absorption spectroscopy and passive slow-light experiments reveal large ac Stark shifts, power broadening, and transit-time broadening, that are present in this system even at nanowatt powers.
The ability to control light with light at ultralow powers has been a major avenue of research in photonics with applications to optical communications, computation, and signal processing. Such light-by-light scattering is achieved in a medium with a strong light-matter interaction, and for the development of quantum information networks it is important to demonstrate such effects near the single-photon level. Alkali-metal vapors such as rubidium (Rb) enable strong light-matter interactions due to the large cross section per atom and well-defined energy level structure, while the use of optical fibers offers the advantage of possible integration with modern optical communication systems. Hollow-core photonic band-gap fibers (PBGFs) can combine both these technologies such that both the atoms and the optical fields are transversely confined to a region that is a few wavelengths in size, which offers the prospect of exploring few-photon nonlinear interactions. We generate large optical depths in such a Rb-PBGF system, and the tight light confinement, high vapor density and long interaction length allow us to perform nonlinear optics at ultralow power. We demonstrate large signal amplification (>100) and frequency conversion using a four-wave mixing process with only microwatts of pump power. This is, to our knowledge, the largest gain observed at such low power. We perturb the coherence of this four-wave mixing to demonstrate all-optical modulation at unprecedented bandwidths (~300 MHz) for an atomic-vapor system, with an energy density of only tens of pho- tons per atomic cross-section, comparable to that achieved in more elaborate setups based on cold-atomic clouds. We then demonstrate an enhancement of several orders of magnitude in degenerate two-photon absorption in our RbPBGF system over that achieved in bulk vapor cells in a focused beam geometry. This allows us to directly measure two-photon absorption from a beam by detecting its intensity on a photodiode. Further, employing a near-resonant, non-degenerate two-photon transition in Rb, we demonstrate all-optical intensity modulation with just a few photons (<20), or only a few attojoules of energy, at relatively large bandwidths (~50 MHz) for such a sensitive scheme. This result takes us to within an order of magnitude of single-photon switching, and improves upon previous experiments for freely propagating optical fields, including those in cold-atoms. Finally, we produce relatively large cross-phase shifts of a few milliradians on a meter beam with <20 signal photons by tuning slightly away from resonance on the same non-degenerate two-photon transition. This corresponds to a phase shift of 0.3 milliradian per photon, with a fast response time of <5 ns. This represents, to our knowledge, the largest such nonlinear phase shift induced in a single-pass through a room temperature medium. Our Rb-PBGF system can thus potentially be employed to realize weak-nonlinearity based quantum computation and quantum non-demolition measurement of photon number. Through these experiments, we show the potential of a Rb-PBGF system for exploring quantum nonlinear optics at ultralow powers. Moreover, our system is simpler and easier to control and manipulate than setups based on cold atomic clouds and/or high-finesse cavities, and holds promise for integration with fiber-optic communication networks.
Low-light-level optical nonlinearities are of significant interest for performing operations such as single-photon switching and quantum non-demolition measurements on single-photons. To evoke strong nonlinearities from singlephotons, one can enhance the matter-photon interaction using strongly nonlinear materials such as alkali vapors in combination with an appropriate geometry such as a waveguide, which provides a long interaction length while maintaining a small light mode area. We demonstrate for the first time that such a system can be experimentally realized by loading rubidium vapor inside a hollow-core photonic band-gap fiber. Using the technique of light-induced atomic desorption in this geometry, we have generated optical depths greater than 1000. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) with control powers 1000 times lower than those used for hot vapor cells in a focused beam geometry. Working with such a high aspect ratio geometry requires us to identify and measure the various sources of decoherence via spectroscopy of desorbed atoms in the fiber. Using such techniques, we also estimate the temperature of the desorbing atoms inside the fiber. The desorption mechanism is studied, and we show that pulsed desorption beams of the right amplitude and duration can be used for generating precisely controlled optical depths. Finally, we investigate the use of various buffer gas techniques for increasing the effective transverse path of the atoms as they move across the fiber in order to reduce their ground state decoherence and map this effect as a function of buffer gas pressure.