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Resonant Light-Matter Interaction for Enhanced Control of Exotic Propagation of Light

Akbar Safari

Published Apr 12, 2019• 0 citations

Abstract

We investigate the propagation of light in different conditions that lead to exotic propagation of photons and use near-resonant light-matter interactions to enhance these effects. First, we study the propagation of light in a moving highly dispersive medium, namely rubidium atoms. Based on the special relativity the speed of light changes with the speed of the medium. However, this drag effect in a non-dispersive medium is very small and thus difficult to measure. We show that the drag effect is enhanced significantly when the moving medium is highly dispersive. Thus, with this enhancement even a slow motion can be detected. Next, we employ the large nonlinear response of rubidium atoms to accentuate the formation of optical caustics. Caustics are important as nature uses caustics to concentrate the energy of waves. Moreover, caustics can be formed in many physical systems such as water waves in oceans to amplify tsunamis or generate rogue waves. The connection of our study to these giant water waves is discussed. Finally, we explore light-matter interactions in plasmonic systems. We show that photons experience a significant phase jump as they couple into and out of a plasmonic structure. This coupling phase, also known as the scattering phase shift, is generic to all scattering events. We measure this coupling phase with a triple-slit plasmonic structure. Moreover, we use the near-field enhancement of the plasmonic structure to enhance the coupling between the slits. Consequently, the photons can take non-trivial trajectories that pass through all three slits. We measure such exotic trajectories for the first time that are seemingly in violation of the superposition principle. The application of the superposition principle and the validity of Born’s rule is discussed.

DOI: 10.20381/ruor-23306

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The change in the speed of light as it propagates through a moving material has been a subject of study for almost two centuries. This phenomenon, known as the Fresnel light-drag effect, is quite small and usually requires a large interaction path length and/or a large velocity of the moving medium to be observed. Here, we show experimentally that the observed drag effect can be enhanced by over 2 orders of magnitude when the light beam propagates through a moving slow-light medium. Our results are in good agreement with the theoretical prediction, which indicates that, in the limit of large group indices, the strength of the light-drag effect is proportional to the group index of the moving medium.

Abstract The Fresnel light dragging effect has remained a subject of significant interest for over two centuries, describing the modification of light propagation in a moving medium. This effect is strongly influenced by the dispersive properties of the medium and is commonly manifested through the phase shift of transmitted light, which varies with the velocity of the medium. In this work, we investigate the phase shift induced by varying the velocity of a moving microcavity. Our results show that a phase shift of approximately 10 m rad is obtained at a velocity of 2 m/s, which increases to about 40 m rad as the velocity reaches 10 m/s. Additionally, the motion of the microcavity significantly affects the transmission of the probe field, leading to measurable perturbations that depend on the induced phase shift. Specifically, the perturbation increases from 0.004 at 2 m/s to 0.02 at 10 m/s. These findings demonstrate that increasing the velocity of the medium enhances the light dragging effect, resulting in a greater modification of light propagation compared to its behavior in a vacuum. This study provides valuable insight into the control of light–matter interaction in dynamic optical systems and its potential applications in advanced photonic technologies.

Abstract Fizeau’s experiment, inspiring Einstein’s special theory of relativity, reveals a small dragging effect acting on light inside a moving medium. Dispersion can enhance such light drag according to Lorentz’s predication. Here fast- and slow-light-enhanced light drag is demonstrated experimentally in a moving optical microcavity through stimulated Brillouin scattering induced transparency and absorption. The strong dispersion provides an enhancement factor up to ~104, greatly reducing the system size down to the micrometer range. These results may offer a unique platform for a compact, integrated solution to motion sensing and ultrafast signal processing applications.

Fizeau experiment, inspiring Einstein's special theory of relativity, reveals a small dragging effect of light inside a moving medium. Dispersion can enhance such light drag according to Lorentz's predication. Here we experimentally demonstrate slow and fast light enhanced light drag in a moving optical microcavity through stimulated Brillouin scattering induced transparency and absorption. The strong dispersion provides an enhancement factor up to ~10^4, greatly reducing the system size down to the micrometer range. These results may offer a unique platform for a compact, integrated solution to motion sensing and ultrafast signal processing applications.

Abstract In recent years, photon drag has attracted enormous attention owing to both fundamental and practical interests. In this paper, we investigate dragging effect in quantum systems with closed-loop interaction. First, we demonstrate an enhanced photon drag in a moving atomic medium with a three-level Λ-type structure. By incorporating the interference of spontaneous emissions, the properties of the atomic medium can be easily controlled by the relative phase of applied fields so that a large group index along with a transparency or even a gain can be achieved. As the photon drag is proportional to the group index, the enhancement can be also found in the dragging of light. Such enhanced dragging effect can be applied for the efficient modulators of light, position control, and the detection of slow motion. We then investigate the Fresnel’s light drag effect in another closed-loop structure, i.e. chiral molecules with a cyclic three-level Δ-type configuration, and show that left- and right-handed chiral molecules exhibit different dragging effects. This provides a possible way to probe the molecular chirality, which may find applications in the sorting and separation of chiral molecules.

Light experiences drag effects when it propagates through a moving medium. The study of light drag has provided foundational insights into light-matter interactions. While longitudinal drag has been extensively characterized, transverse drag, where the medium moves perpendicular to the light's propagation, is subtler and requires advanced techniques for detection. In this work, we experimentally investigate transverse drag in a highly dispersive slow-light medium using non-degenerate Zeeman electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in rubidium vapor. By systematically comparing configurations where the light beam and the medium serve as the moving frame, we leverage Galilean invariance to analyze transverse light-drag in this optical context. Thus, we provide a platform for future tests of fundamental principles on strong experimental grounds, which offers promising applications in precision velocimetry, accelerometry, quantum information, and light storage technologies.