arXiv:1305.1077 · Physical Review Letters
Femtojoule-Scale All-Optical Latching and Modulation via Cavity Nonlinear Optics
Yeong-Dae Kwon, Michael A. Armen, Hideo Mabuchi
Abstract
We experimentally characterize Hopf bifurcation phenomena at femtojoule energy scales in a multiatom cavity quantum electrodynamical (cavity QED) system and demonstrate how such behaviors can be exploited in the design of all-optical memory and modulation devices. The data are analyzed by using a semiclassical model that explicitly treats heterogeneous coupling of atoms to the cavity mode. Our results highlight the interest of cavity QED systems for ultralow power photonic signal processing as well as for fundamental studies of mesoscopic nonlinear dynamics.