Transverse optical patterns for ultra‐low‐light‐level all‐optical switching

Dawes, Andrew M. C.; Gauthier, Daniel J.; Schumacher, Stefan; Kwong, N. H.; Binder, R.; Smirl, Arthur L.

doi:10.1002/lpor.200810067

Cited by 28 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 106 publications

(176 reference statements)

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“…By controlling the relative contributions of the χ (3) and χ (5) NLO response, one can create novel states of light such as liquid light condensates [6] as well as use the interference of the resulting four-and six-wave mixing signals for high-precision measurements and nonlinear spectroscopy [12]. In addition, quintic media can give rise to multidimensional solitons and transverse optical patterns [13], which might be used for low-light-level all-optical switching [14,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bunching-induced optical nonlinearity and instability in cold atoms [Invited]

Greenberg¹,

Schmittberger²,

Gauthier³

2011

Opt. Express

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Abstract:We report a new nonlinear optical process that occurs in a cloud of cold atoms at low-light-levels when the incident optical fields simultaneously polarize, cool, and spatially-organize the atoms. We observe an extremely large effective fifth-order nonlinear susceptibility of χ (5) = 7.6 × 10 −15 (m/V) 4 , which results in efficient Bragg scattering via six-wave mixing, slow group velocities (∼ c/10 5 ), and enhanced atomic coherence times (> 100 µs). In addition, this process is particularly sensitive to the atomic temperatures, and provides a new tool for in-situ monitoring of the atomic momentum distribution in an optical lattice. For sufficiently large light-matter couplings, we observe an optical instability for intensities as low as ∼ 1 mW/cm 2 in which new, intense beams of light are generated and result in the formation of controllable transverse optical patterns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bunching-induced optical nonlinearity and instability in cold atoms [Invited]

Greenberg¹,

Schmittberger²,

Gauthier³

2011

Opt. Express

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“…Despite the fact that homogeneous atomic samples give rise to strong nonlinear susceptibilities [12,38], the nonlinear susceptibility can be further enhanced by using sub-Dopplercooled atoms, which is indicated by the inverse dependence of χ (3) on T in Eq. (22).…”

Section: Uniform Optical Latticementioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the enhanced material response due to atomic bunching, we predict that one can achieve singlephoton nonlinearities, e.g., single-photon optical switching using transverse optical pattern formation [12], without the requirement of focusing the optical fields to their ultimate limit. It is this regime that is of interest for low-light-level nonlinear optical applications and the search for photonphoton interactions at the single-photon level.…”

Section: Uniform Optical Latticementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Single-photon effects have been observed recently [7][8][9][10], which represents a significant step towards realizing quantum logic gates and quantum memories. Enhancing the light-atom interaction strength is also of interest for classical applications in low-light-level nonlinear optics, such as slow light [11] and reducing the threshold for all-optical switching using transverse optical patterns [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhancing light-atom interactions via atomic bunching

Schmittberger

Gauthier

2014

Phys. Rev. A

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There is a broad interest in enhancing the strength of light-atom interactions to the point where injecting a single photon induces a nonlinear material response. Here we show theoretically that sub-Doppler-cooled two-level atoms that are spatially organized by weak optical fields give rise to a nonlinear material response that is greatly enhanced beyond that attainable in a homogeneous gas. Specifically, in the regime where the intensity of the applied optical fields is much less than the off-resonance saturation intensity, we show that the third-order nonlinear susceptibility scales inversely with atomic temperature and, due to this scaling, can be two orders of magnitude larger than that of a homogeneous gas for typical experimental parameters. As a result, we predict that spatially bunched two-level atoms can exhibit single-photon nonlinearities. Our model is valid for all regimes of atomic bunching and simultaneously accounts for the backaction of the atoms on the optical fields. Our results agree with previous theoretical and experimental results for light-atom interactions that have considered only limited regimes of atomic bunching. For lattice beams tuned to the low-frequency side of the atomic transition, we find that the nonlinearity transitions from a self-focusing type to a self-defocusing type at a critical intensity. We also show that higher than third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities are significant in the regime where the dipole potential energy is on the order of the atomic thermal energy. We therefore find that it is crucial to retain high-order nonlinearities to accurately predict interactions of laser fields with spatially organized ultracold atoms. The model presented here is a foundation for modeling low-light-level nonlinear optical processes for ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

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“…Accordingly, the invention of high-power lasers made it possible to realize photonic components based on optical nonlinearities requiring high power densities. Designing a faster all-optical switching component using optical nonlinearity is one of the most desired goals in the field of all-optical information processing, and various types of all optical elements have been proposed so far [1], [2]. All optical switches based on semiconductor optical amplifier and Mach-Zender interferometer [3], ring resonator [4] and plasmonics [5] have been demonstrated.…”

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confidence: 99%

An All-Optical Switching Based on Resonance Breaking With a Transient Grating

Akın

Dinleyici

2010

J. Lightwave Technol.

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Abstract-A new resonance breaking in-fiber switch as an all-optical network component is investigated and presented. A transient grating is applied to break the transverse resonance of the fundamental waveguide mode and the power coupled into the higher order propagating mode is computed using coupled mode theory (CMT). The coupling of the modes with the grating forming beams in the evanescent region of the waveguide is investigated with four wave mixing (FWM). High conversion efficiency is calculated in the case of perfect phase matching at communication wavelength 1550 nm. The conversion efficiency of the proposed structure is considered in terms of third-order nonlinear susceptibility, and the effect of design and tuning parameters are investigated for grating forming geometry and laser beam intensity, respectively.

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Transverse optical patterns for ultra‐low‐light‐level all‐optical switching

Cited by 28 publications

References 106 publications

Bunching-induced optical nonlinearity and instability in cold atoms [Invited]

Bunching-induced optical nonlinearity and instability in cold atoms [Invited]

Enhancing light-atom interactions via atomic bunching

An All-Optical Switching Based on Resonance Breaking With a Transient Grating

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