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The European Physical Journal D

Evidence for intrinsic Kerr bistability of high-Q microsphere resonators in superfluid helium

François Treussart, Vladimir S. Ilchenko, Jean-François Roch, Jean Hare, V. Lefèvre-Seguin, J. M. Raimond, S. Haroche

Published Jan 1, 1998• 103 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quality factors up to 109 have been obtained in the whispering gallery modes (WGMs) of fused silica microspheres immersed in a superfluid helium bath. We have observed a dispersive bistable behaviour of the WGM resonances with a threshold power of 10 μW, due to the intrinsic Kerr nonlinearity of silica. These results open the way to the realization of a thresholdless microlaser and other cavity QED projects with microspheres.

DOI
10.1007/pl00021556

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arXiv:quant-ph/0008010•Optics Letters•Feb 1, 2001•108 citations
Quality factors up to 109 have been obtained in the whispering gallery modes (WGMs) of fused silica microspheres immersed in a superfluid helium bath. We have observed a dispersive bistable behaviour of the WGM resonances with a threshold power of 10 μW, due to the intrinsic Kerr nonlinearity of silica. These results open the way to the realization of a thresholdless microlaser and other cavity QED projects with microspheres.
Silica microspheres behave as efficient optical microresonators when small-volume whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) are used. We have realized a cryogenic set-up to work with microspheres immersed in a superfluid helium bath. Quality factors up to 109 have been obtained at 2 K. In this environment, we have been able to observe a dispersive bistable behavior of the WGM resonances, due to the weak intrinsic Kerr optical nonlinearity of silica, with a threshold power of 10 (mu) W only. This result opens the way to the realization of thresholdless microlaser, based on a rare-earth doped silica microsphere and to other Cavity-QED projects with microspheres at low temperatures.
Silica microspheres have been demonstrated to provide a permanent resonator which combines small mode volumes with the highest observed quality factors (Q>2.10/sup 9/) corresponding to photon storage times of the order of one microsecond. These properties have allowed us to make a very low-threshold laser with Nd-doped silica microspheres (200 nW absorbed pump power, i.e. 10/sup 6/ excited ions/mode). These microlasers are now operated at 2 K to benefit from a smaller homogeneous linewidth. We then expect to reach the "thresholdless" regime with only a few excited ions. These experiments can also be considered as a first step toward Cavity QED experiments in the strong coupling regime with single atoms or molecules coupled to a whispering gallery mode.
Summary form only given, as follows: The high Q whispering gallery modes of silica microspheres are promising for quantum optics and nonlinear optics experiments involving atoms and photons stored in very small volumes. We have developed the technology of these resonators, learning how to couple light in and out through optical fibers, how to obtain and measure record Q factors, and how to probe, by near-field optical microscopy, the electric field distribution immediately outside the sphere. Whispering gallery mode lasers have also been obtained with microspheres made of silica doped with neodymium ions. We describe these experiments and discuss projects involving the coupling of whispering gallery modes to single atoms or ions to perform cavity QED experiments in the optical domain.
We have studied by phase modulation spectroscopy the whispering-gallery modes (Mie resonances) of 60 to 200 μm diameter microspheres obtained by fusing with a CO 2 laser the end of a high-transmission silica fibre. An evanescent wave at 780 nm was produced by total internal reflection of a phase-modulated semiconductor diode laser beam in a glass prism. It was coupled into the Mie mode of the microsphere positioned at a fixed distance from the prism face. The spectrum was obtained by measuring the phase-to-amplitude conversion of the laser beam modulation as its carrier frequency was scanned. Record Q -factors ⩾ 2 · 10 9 were observed, corresponding to photon storage times longer than 1 μs. Applications of these resonances to fundamental and applied projects are discussed.
We report measurements of cavity-QED effects for the radiative coupling of atoms in a dilute vapor to the external evanescent field of a whispering-gallery mode (WGM) in a fused silica microsphere. The high QQQ $(5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7})$, small mode volume (10${}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ cm3){}^{3})3), and unusual symmetry of the microcavity evanescent field enable velocity-selective interactions between fields with photon number of order unity in the WGM and ${N}_{T}\ensuremath{\sim}1$ atoms in the surrounding vapor.
We have tuned the whispering-gallery modes of a fused-silica microresonator over nearly 1 nm at 800 nm, i.e., over half a free spectral range, or 10(6) linewidths of the resonator. This result has been achieved by use of a new method based on the stretching of a two-stem microsphere. We describe devices that will permit new cavity QED experiments with this high- Q optical resonator when it is desirable to optimize its coupling to emitters with given transition frequencies. The demonstrated tuning capability is compatible with both UHV and low-temperature operation, which should be useful for future experiments with laser-cooled atoms or single quantum dots.