Linear Optical Response

Philippe Tamarat, Fedor Jelezko, Ch. Brunel +3 more

Gerard McCaul, Alexander F. King, Denys I. Bondar

In recent years, non-linear optical phenomena have attracted much attention, with a particular focus on the engineering and exploitation of non-linear responses. Comparatively little study has however been devoted to the driving fields that generate these responses. In this work, we demonstrate that the relationship between a driving field and the optical response it induces is non-unique. Using a generic model for a strongly interacting system, we show that multiple candidate driving field exists, which will all generate the same response. Consequently, it is possible show that the optical response is not sufficient to determine the internal dynamics of the system, and that different solutions for the driving field will do different amounts of work on a system. This non-uniqueness phenomenon may in future be utilised to engineer internal system states without modifying its optical response.

Anna Sitek, Paweł Machnikowski

We calculate the linear optical response from a single quantum dot molecule and the nonlinear, four-wave-mixing response from an inhomogeneously broadened ensemble of such molecules.We show that both optical signals are affected by the coupling-dependent superradiance effect and by optical interference between the two polarizations.As a result, the linear and nonlinear responses are not identical.

Christopher R. Moylan

Gerard McCaul, Alexander F. King, Denys I. Bondar

Abstract In recent years, non‐linear optical phenomena have attracted much attention, with a particular focus on the engineering and exploitation of non‐linear responses. Comparatively little study has, however, been devoted to the driving fields that generate these responses. This work demonstrates that the relationship between a driving field and the optical response it induces is non‐unique. Using a generic model for a strongly interacting system, it is shown that multiple candidate driving field exists, which will all generate the same response. Consequently, it is possible to show that the optical response is not sufficient to determine the internal dynamics of the system, and that different solutions for the driving field will do different amounts of work on a system. Physically, the work done indicates the energy absorbed by the system from the field and will therefore correspond to modifying the absorption spectrum of the material. This non‐uniqueness phenomenon may be further utilized to engineer thermodynamically efficient system states without modifying its optical response.