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CRC Press eBooks

Control of Photonic Tunneling in Coupled Optical Waveguides

Stefano Longhi

Published Mar 9, 2011• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Waveguides: Basic Equations...............................................................................................312 13.3 Coherent Destruction of Optical Tunneling ..........................................................................314 13.4 Optical Analog of Field-Induced Barrier Transparency........................................................316 13.5 Coherent Photonic Tunneling by Adiabatic Passage.............................................................319 13.6 Photonic Tunneling in Optical Lattices: Optical Analog of the Quantum Zeno Effect ....................................................................................325 13.7 Photonic Landau-Zener Tunneling .......................................................................................331 13.8 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................333 References......................................................................................................................................334 Tunneling is a universal phenomenon to wave physics which arises when an evanescent field transfers energy through a barrier to a region where a propagating wave is allowed. Tunneling phenomena have been predicted and observed in countless quantum and classical physical systems. In particular, optical (or photonic) tunneling usually refers to light propagation across forbidden photonic barriers, such as in photonic band gap structures or undersized waveguides, as well as to evanescent field coupling among waveguides or resonators or to light passage via evanescent coupling in frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR). The first observation of FTIR and of photonic tunneling date back to three centuries ago, when Newton reported on light transmission through a gap between prisms. Nowadays, FTIR at plane interfaces is generally viewed as an optical analog of quantum mechanical tunneling across a one-dimensional potential barrier [1]. Optical tunneling across photonic barriers, realized by for example, FTIR or photonic band gaps, has attracted a great deal of attention in the past two decades as an experimentally accessible system with which to measure tunneling times [2-7]. FTIR has been also exploited to study wave packet reshaping [8] and to provide an optical realization of curious quantum-mechanical effects such as quantum evaporation [9]. Similarly, photonic tunneling in spherical dielectric media has been proposed as an optical analog of nuclear decay arising form particle escape from a three-dimensional potential well [10]. In deformed dielectric microcavities, chaos-assisted tunneling phenomena have been investigated as well [11-14]. A different optical system that provides an experimentally accessible laboratory tool to visualize and control photonic tunneling, which is at the focus of this chapter, is represented

DOI
10.1201/b10712-18

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Waveguides: Basic Equations...............................................................................................312 13.3 Coherent Destruction of Optical Tunneling ..........................................................................314 13.4 Optical Analog of Field-Induced Barrier Transparency........................................................316 13.5 Coherent Photonic Tunneling by Adiabatic Passage.............................................................319 13.6 Photonic Tunneling in Optical Lattices: Optical Analog of the Quantum Zeno Effect ....................................................................................325 13.7 Photonic Landau-Zener Tunneling .......................................................................................331 13.8 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................333 References......................................................................................................................................334 Tunneling is a universal phenomenon to wave physics which arises when an evanescent field transfers energy through a barrier to a region where a propagating wave is allowed. Tunneling phenomena have been predicted and observed in countless quantum and classical physical systems. In particular, optical (or photonic) tunneling usually refers to light propagation across forbidden photonic barriers, such as in photonic band gap structures or undersized waveguides, as well as to evanescent field coupling among waveguides or resonators or to light passage via evanescent coupling in frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR). The first observation of FTIR and of photonic tunneling date back to three centuries ago, when Newton reported on light transmission through a gap between prisms. Nowadays, FTIR at plane interfaces is generally viewed as an optical analog of quantum mechanical tunneling across a one-dimensional potential barrier [1]. Optical tunneling across photonic barriers, realized by for example, FTIR or photonic band gaps, has attracted a great deal of attention in the past two decades as an experimentally accessible system with which to measure tunneling times [2-7]. FTIR has been also exploited to study wave packet reshaping [8] and to provide an optical realization of curious quantum-mechanical effects such as quantum evaporation [9]. Similarly, photonic tunneling in spherical dielectric media has been proposed as an optical analog of nuclear decay arising form particle escape from a three-dimensional potential well [10]. In deformed dielectric microcavities, chaos-assisted tunneling phenomena have been investigated as well [11-14]. A different optical system that provides an experimentally accessible laboratory tool to visualize and control photonic tunneling, which is at the focus of this chapter, is represented
Feynman introduced virtual particles in his diagrams as intermediate states of an interaction process. They represent necessary intermediate states between observable real states. Such virtual particles were introduced to describe the interaction process between an electron and a positron and for much more complicated interaction processes. Other candidates for virtual particles are evanescent modes in optics and in elastic fields. Evanescent modes have a purely imaginary wave number, they represent the mathematical analogy of the tunneling solutions of the Schrödinger equation. Evanescent modes exist in the forbidden frequency bands of a photonic lattice and in undersized wave guides, for instance. The most prominent example for the occurrence of evanescent modes is the frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) at double prisms. Evanescent modes and tunneling lie outside the bounds of the special theory of relativity. They can cause faster than light (FTL) signal velocities. We present examples of the quantum mechanical behavior of evanescent photons and phonons at a macroscopic scale. The evanescent modes of photons are described by virtual particles as predicted by former QED calculations.
Feynman introduced virtual particles in his diagrams as intermediate states of an interaction process. They represent necessary intermediate states between observable real states. Such virtual particles were introduced to describe the interaction process between an electron and a positron and for much more complicated interaction processes. Other candidates for virtual particles are evanescent modes in optics and in elastic fields. Evanescent modes have a purely imaginary wave number, they represent the mathematical analogy of the tunneling solutions of the Schrödinger equation. Evanescent modes exist in the forbidden frequency bands of a photonic lattice and in undersized wave guides, for instance. The most prominent example for the occurrence of evanescent modes is the frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) at double prisms. Evanescent modes and tunneling lie outside the bounds of the special theory of relativity. They can cause faster than light (FTL) signal velocities. We present examples of the quantum mechanical behavior of evanescent photons and phonons at a macroscopic scale. The evanescent modes of photons are described by virtual particles as predicted by former QED calculations.
Tunneling is an outstanding physical process. The observation that particles surmount a high barrier in spite of the fact that they don't have the necessary energy can not be explained by classical physics. However, this so called tunneling became allowed by quantum mechanics. Experimental tunneling studies with different photonic barriers from microwave frequencies up to ultraviolet frequencies point towards a universal tunneling time [1, 2]. Tunneling can be described by virtual, that is, by unobservable particles [3]. In the case of tunneling there is a virtual particle between the real incident and the real transmitted particles. Tunneling modes are solutions of the Schrödinger and of the Helmholtz equations. The most prominent example of the occurrence of tunneling modes in optics is frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) at double prisms. In 1949 Sommerfeld [4] pointed out that this optical phenomenon represents the analogy of quantum mechanical particle tunneling. Recent experimental and theoretical data confirmed the conjecture that the tunneling process is characterized by a universal tunneling time presumably independent of the kind of field. The observed tunneling processes proceeded at a time of the order of magnitude of the reciprocal frequency of the wave packets.