Physics and Device Applications of Optical Microcavities

Jason Smith, Aurelien A. P. Trichet, Philip R. Dolan +11 more

Tie-Jun Wang, Cong Cao, Chuan Xi Wang

Julien Claudon, Jean‐Michel Gérard

H. Yokoyama

Optical microcavities are resonators that have at least one dimension on the order of a single optical wavelength. These structures enable one to control the optical emission properties of materials placed inside them. They can, for example, modify the spatial distribution of radiation power, change the spectral width of the emitted light, and enhance or suppress the spontaneous emission rate. In addition to being attractive for studying the fundamental physics of the interaction between materials and vacuum field fluctuations, optical microcavities hold technological promise for constructing novel kinds of light-emitting devices. One of their most dramatic potential features is thresholdless lasing. In this way and others, controlled spontaneous emission is expected to play a key role in a new generation of optical devices.

Tie Wang

Devices based on the optical microcavities which confne light to small volumes by resonant recirculation are already indispensable for a wide range of studies and applications. This article provides an overview of the development and application of optical microcavities. We frst give a pedagogical introduction to the interaction between a two-level system and a quantized electromagnetic feld in the cavity, based on the so-called Jaynes-Cummings model, which is basic and important theory model in the cavity quantum electrodynamics,and various quantum phenomena and applications of it. Then, we overview three basic types of the microcavity structures, and also highlight the progress achieved so far in these systems. Based on these three structures,we give an account of three representative applications of optical microcavities, and explain their microcavity requirements and the state of the art for these devices, before outlining the challenges for the future.