Photonic crystal cavity with self-similar structure and single-photon Kerr nonlinearities

We propose a design of photonic crystal cavity with self-similar electromagnetic boundary conditions, that achieve ultrasmall mode volume (Vff). The electric energy density of a cavity mode can be maximized in the air or dielectric region, depending on the choice of boundary conditions. We illustrate the design concept with a silicon-air ID photon crystal cavity that reaches an ultrasmall mode volume of Vff ~ 7.01 x 10- 5 [lambda]3 at [lambda] ~ 1550 nm. We show that the extreme light concentration in our design can enable ultra-strong Kerr nonlinearities, even at the single photon level. These features open new directions in cavity quantum electrodynamics, spectroscopy, and quantum nonlinear optics.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Choi, Hyeongrak

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dirk R. Englund.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108985

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/108985