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arXiv:1103.6048 · Physical Review Letters

Controlling the Phase of a Light Beam with a Single Molecule

M. Pototschnig, Yannick Chassagneux, Jaesuk Hwang, G. Zumofen, Alois Renn, Vahid Sandoghdar

Published Aug 1, 2011• 72 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We employ heterodyne interferometry to investigate the effect of a single organic molecule on the phase of a propagating laser beam. We report on the first phase-contrast images of individual molecules and demonstrate a single-molecule electro-optical phase switch by applying a voltage to the microelectrodes embedded in the sample. Our results may find applications in single-molecule holography, fast optical coherent signal processing, and single-emitter quantum operations.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.107.063001

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We employ heterodyne interferometry to investigate the effect of a single organic molecule on the phase of a propagating laser beam. We report on the first phase-contrast images of individual molecules and demonstrate a single-molecule electro-optical phase switch by applying a voltage to the microelectrodes embedded in the sample. Our results may find applications in single-molecule holography, fast optical coherent signal processing, and single-emitter quantum operations.
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Optical Transient Experiments allow one to probe the coherent interaction of light with matter, as well as measure the time for energy transfer, T1, and loss of phase coherence, T2, in atoms, molecules and solids. Coherent optical transients are induced when the interaction of light with the sample is changed in a time which is short compared to T2. The interaction can be modified by changing the amplitude, frequency or phase of the existing laser light. This can be accomplished with an electro-optic modulator which makes it possible to electronically control a wide variety of laser experiments. The method of electro-optic laser phase and frequency switching with an extra-cavity modulator is discussed below.
Many interesting proposals in quantum optics and light-matter interaction rely on having multiple quantum emitters well-coupled to a single mode of light. Of particular interest are cases where several identical emitters couple to a one-dimensional (1D) photonic medium. Recently, we presented such a system by evanescent coupling of organic dye molecules to the same guided mode of an on-chip subwavelength waveguide [1]. While this coupling allowed us to demonstrate up to 7.5% transmission extinction of the propagating light by a single molecule, it is still not sufficient for achieving higher-order effects such as photon-mediated interaction of multiple emitters coupled to the same waveguide.