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Laser Spectroscopy

SWITCHING OF LIGHT WITH LIGHT USING COLD ATOMS INSIDE A HOLLOW OPTICAL FIBER

Michal Bajcsy, Sebastian Hofferberth, Thibault Peyronel, Vlatko Balić, Mohammad Hafezi, Alexander S. Zibrov, Mikhail D. Lukin, Vladan Vuletić

Published Feb 1, 2010• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate a fiber-optical switch that operates with a few hundred photons per switching pulse. The light-light interaction is mediated by laser-cooled atoms. The required strong interaction between atoms and light is achieved by simultaneously confining photons and atoms inside the microscopic hollow core of a single-mode photonic-crystal fiber.

DOI
10.1142/9789814282345_0012

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We demonstrate a fiber-optical switch that operates with a few hundred photons per switching pulse. The light-light interaction is mediated by laser-cooled atoms. The required strong interaction between atoms and light is achieved by simultaneously confining photons and atoms inside the microscopic hollow core of a single-mode photonic-crystal fiber.
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Cold atoms confined inside a hollow core photonic crystal fiber with core diameter of a few photon wavelengths are a promising medium for studying nonlinear optical interactions at extremely low light levels. The high electric field intensity per photon, large optical depths, and interaction lengths not limited by diffraction are some of the unique features of this system. We describe recent progress in our experiment that uses a combination of magnetic trapping and a red-detuned optical dipole trap to transfer cold rubidium atoms into the hollow-core fiber. We present data on transfer efficiencies as well as preliminary experiments towards nonlinear optics with few photon pulses.