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Optics Letters

Precision Doppler measurements with steep dispersion

U. Bortolozzo, S. Residori, John C. Howell

Published Aug 13, 2013• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Controlling the group velocity of light is a valuable resource for quantum and classical optical processing and high performance sensor technologies. In this context, slow-light (SL) and the associated steep dispersion have been proposed to increase the sensitivity of certain types of interferometers. Here, we show that the interaction of two intensity-balanced light beams in a SL medium can be used to detect Doppler shifts with extremely high sensitivity. By using this effect in a liquid crystal light-valve, we have been able to measure Doppler shifts as low as 1 μHz with an integration time of only 1 s. The shot noise limited sensitivity inversely depends on the steepness of the beam-coupling dispersive response. This method allows for remote sensing of very slowly moving objects with a linear response over 5 orders of magnitude.

DOI
10.1364/ol.38.003107

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Optics Letters•Jun 10, 2010•19 citations
Controlling the group velocity of light is a valuable resource for quantum and classical optical processing and high performance sensor technologies. In this context, slow-light (SL) and the associated steep dispersion have been proposed to increase the sensitivity of certain types of interferometers. Here, we show that the interaction of two intensity-balanced light beams in a SL medium can be used to detect Doppler shifts with extremely high sensitivity. By using this effect in a liquid crystal light-valve, we have been able to measure Doppler shifts as low as 1 μHz with an integration time of only 1 s. The shot noise limited sensitivity inversely depends on the steepness of the beam-coupling dispersive response. This method allows for remote sensing of very slowly moving objects with a linear response over 5 orders of magnitude.
By performing two-beam coupling experiments in a liquid crystal light-valve, a large slow-light effect is obtained, with group velocity as slow as a few tenths of mm/s. According to the anisotropic character of the wave-mixing process in liquid crystals, the interactions are accompanied by different behaviors on the different polarization states, with high response to phase changes on the extraordinary wave and the ordinary wave traveling unaffected. Different types of enhanced sensitivity phase detection systems are realized based on the slow-light features of wave-mixing in light-valves, such as common-path polarization interferometers exploiting different polarization states, adaptive holography and nonlinear Sagnac detection.
We present the nonlinear optical properties of liquid crystal light-valves and wave-mixing experiments from which slow-light effects are obtained. Group velocities as low as fractions of mm/s are achieved, the corresponding group index becoming very large. We show how this property that can be exploited to realize interferometric systems, for instance, an enhanced sensitivity Mach-Zehnder interferometer containing the light-valve as a slowlight medium is shown. Then, we present a common-path polarization interferometer based on the anisotropic character of the slow-light process occurring in the light-valve. Finally, we present a nonlinear optical cavity where a Doppler shift is introduced by the controlled displacement of one of the mirrors. Self-pulsing is obtained in the cavity due to the strongly dispersive response of the light-valve.
Liquid crystals are characterized by a strong anisotropy of their physical properties, which is at the origin of their high birefringence. By performing two-wave mixing experiments in a liquid crystal light-valve, we show that the anisotropic nature of the beam coupling occurring in the liquid crystal layer leads to a slow-light birefringence phenomenon, that is, orthogonal polarization states of the input pulse travel at very different group velocities. Such a slow-light birefringence effect comports a large difference in the group index for the ordinary and the extraordinary wave. The resulting high contrast of the group index can be exploited for realizing a common-path polarization interferometer working at enhanced sensitivity, where very small phase variations can be efficiently detected.
Slow light supported by electromagnetically induced transparency effect in dispersive medium is extremely susceptible with respect to Doppler detuning. In this paper, the Doppler effect induced by rotating dispersive medium was considered and the effect of the velocity of rotating dispersive medium on the group velocity was studied. Based on a dispersive slow-light medium, a high sensitive optical rotation sensor for measuring absolute rotation is proposed and analysed. The sensitivity of the rotation sensor is the group delay between the counterpropagationed wave packets in the device, and scales directly with square of the group index which can reach 102−108 orders of magnitude by selecting a proper dispersive medium.
Two-wave mixing experiments performed in a liquid crystal light-valve leads to optical amplification in the Raman-Nath regime of diffraction. By exploiting the dispersion properties associated with the two-wave mixing gain, we demonstrate slow and fast light effects, with the output signal pulse either delayed or anticipated with respect to the input light field. Group velocity as slow as a 0.2 mm/s are obtained, and a large tunability of the group delay is achieved thanks to the ability of controlling the liquid crystal nonlinear response through the main experimental parameters. A theoretical model based on the Kerr-like response of the liquid crystal light-valve accounts for the experimental results and allows us to calculate the group delays for the different output orders. We show that the large group delay obtained in the slow light regime can be exploited to enhance the spectral sensitivity of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and, on the other side, the narrow frequency bandwidth of the two-wave mixing gain can be used to realize an adaptive holographic system that achieves picometer detection.