Absorption and Emission of Evanescent Photons*

Carniglia, C. K.; Mandeļ, L.; Drexhage, K. H.

doi:10.1364/josa.62.000479

Cited by 145 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Our experimental results suggest that the absorption and emission of a single photon in a two-level atomic ensemble may possibly be manipulated by shaping its waveform in the time domain. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.263601 PACS numbers: 42.50.Nn, 03.65.Ta, 32.80.Qk, 42.50.Ct Photon absorption and emission are two key probes to study the light-matter quantum interaction, which lays down the foundations for atomic, molecular, and optical physics [1][2][3]. When a coherent optical pulse propagates through a medium, the absorption and emission can coherently modify its spectral components and lead to many interesting and important optical phenomena, such as attenuation, amplification, distortion, and slow and fast light effects [4][5][6][7][8].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Coherent Control of Single-Photon Absorption and Reemission in a Two-Level Atomic Ensemble

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We demonstrate coherent control of single-photon absorption and reemission in a two-level cold atomic ensemble. This is achieved by interfering the incident single-photon wave packet with the emission (or scattering) wave. For a photon with an exponential growth waveform with a time constant equal to the excited-state lifetime, we observe that the single-photon emission probability during the absorption can be suppressed due to the perfect destructive interference. After the incident photon waveform is switched off, the absorbed photon is then reemitted to the same spatial mode as that of the incident photon with an efficiency of 20%. For a photon with an exponential decay waveform with the same time constant, both the absorption and reemission occur within the waveform duration. Our experimental results suggest that the absorption and emission of a single photon in a two-level atomic ensemble may possibly be manipulated by shaping its waveform in the time domain. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.263601 PACS numbers: 42.50.Nn, 03.65.Ta, 32.80.Qk, 42.50.Ct Photon absorption and emission are two key probes to study the light-matter quantum interaction, which lays down the foundations for atomic, molecular, and optical physics [1][2][3]. When a coherent optical pulse propagates through a medium, the absorption and emission can coherently modify its spectral components and lead to many interesting and important optical phenomena, such as attenuation, amplification, distortion, and slow and fast light effects [4][5][6][7][8]. For a single photon, causality requires that the absorption and reemission follow the right time order: the reemission can only occur following the absorption. Although this quantum time order has been observed as the antibunching effect in resonance fluorescence measured by two-photon correlations [9,10], it is not controllable on demand in these experiments. When a single photon enters a two-level atomic medium, the absorption and emission usually both occur within the photon pulse duration. Recently, Scully et al. proposed a scheme for observing directed ''spontaneous'' emission excited by a single photon [11].In this Letter, we demonstrate coherent control of singlephoton absorption and reemission in a two-level cold atomic ensemble in free space by shaping the singlephoton waveform. Making use of the destructive interference between the emission (or scattering) and the incident photon wave packet, we show that the probability of reemitting the photon during the absorption can be completely suppressed when the incident photon has an exponential growth waveform with a time constant equal to the excitedstate lifetime. The reemission process only starts after the incident photon waveform is switched off and thus can be controlled on demand. This technique can be used to efficiently excite atoms with a given single atom. Our result may have potential applications in the quantum networks that require efficient conversion between flying single-photon states and local atomic states [12]. Figure 1 i...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Coherent Control of Single-Photon Absorption and Reemission in a Two-Level Atomic Ensemble

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The absorption and emission of evanescent photon by dye molecules was investigated by Carniglia et al [13] and Lieberherr et al [16]. The experimental results are in very good agreement with the theory.…”

Section: Dipole Located In the High Refractive Index Mediummentioning

confidence: 74%

“…The modification of the emission rate of a dipole has been studied theoretically for many years. Numerous experimental studies have been done either with fluorescent ions or dye moleculeS [12][13][14][15][16][17]. In semiconductor physics the effect of a cavity on the rate of spontaneous emission of a quantum well was recognized recently [18,19], and during the last years, only a few studies have been done on the effect of a dielectric environment [4] or a close interface [20][21][22][23][24] on the optical properties of nanostructures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Light Emission by Semiconductor Nanostructures in Dielectric Medium or Close to Plane Interface

Lavallard

1996

Acta Phys. Pol. A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We review several situations in which the emission rate of a nanostructure is modified by its environment. We first consider smaJl objects embedded in media with different refractive indices. The local electromagnetic field and the rate of spontaneous emission of the nanostructure are enhanced or inhibited by the induced dipole charges on the interface. In quantum wells or nanocrystals embedded in a low dielectric constant medium, the binding energy of excitons is increased. In anisotropic microcrystals, the local field is anisotropic and emission of light is polarized. We consider especially the case of p+-doped porous silicon in which nanocrystals are elongated. Another interesting situation occurs when a dipole is in the vicinity of a dielectric interface. The local field acting on the dipole results from the interferences of incident and reflected beams. Contributions from evanescent waves are important when the dipole is located in the medium of low refractive index, very close to the surface. The intensity of emission and its pattern are modified by the vicinity of the dielectric interface. Close to the interface semiconductor/air, the exciton binding energy is increased. In the vicinity of a metallic surface, á nonradiative transfer to the metal occurs for small distances of the nano-object or quantum weJl to the surface and the quantum efficiency varies with the distance to the metallic surface. The exciton binding energy of a quantum well is decreased close to a metallic surface.PACS numbers: 78.20.Βh, 78.55.Cr, 78.55.Et 1. Introduction The rate of spontaneous emission of a dipole is not an intrinsic property of the dipole but depends on its environment [1]: dielectric medium [2-5], dielectric interface [6][7][8], metallic interface [9,10] or cavity [11]. The modification of the emission rate of a dipole has been studied theoretically for many years. Numerous experimental studies have been done either with fluorescent ions or dye moleculeS [12][13][14][15][16][17]. In semiconductor physics the effect of a cavity on the rate of spontaneous emission of a quantum well was recognized recently [18,19], and during the last years, only a few studies have been done on the effect of a dielectric

show abstract

“…In other words, the electromagnetic near field, created by the oscillation of the excited dipole from the surface confined fluorophore, overlaps with the evanescent tail of the waveguide modes and meets the conditions for light propagation within the waveguide (Figure 6b). (Carniglia et al, 1972) Harrick and Loeb first applied the principle of back-coupled fluorescence using an ATR element to detect a fluorescently labeled self-assembled thin-film of bovine serum albumin. Fiber optic based back-coupled fluorescence biosensors were first presented by Andrade et al in 1985 and theoretically explored by Glass et al and Marcuse.…”

Section: Mechanism Of Back-coupled Fluorescencementioning

confidence: 99%