Strong Light-Matter Coupling in Subwavelength Metal-Dielectric Microcavities at Terahertz Frequencies

Todorov, Yanko; Andrews, A. M.; Sagnes, I.; Colombelli, R.; Klang, P.; Strasser, G.; Sirtori, Carlo

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.102.186402

Phys. Rev. Lett.

2009

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.102.186402

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Strong Light-Matter Coupling in Subwavelength Metal-Dielectric Microcavities at Terahertz Frequencies

Yanko Todorov

A. M. Andrews

I. Sagnes

et al.

Abstract: We have demonstrated that a metal-dielectric-metal microcavity combined with quantum well intersubband transitions is an ideal system for the generation of cavity polariton states in the terahertz region. The metallic cavity has highly confined radiation modes that can be tuned in resonance with the intersubband transition. In this system we were able to measure a very strong light-matter splitting (the Rabi splitting 2 variant Planck's over 2pi Omega R), corresponding to 22% of the transition energy. We belie… Show more

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Cited by 191 publications

(165 citation statements)

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(26 reference statements)

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“…Intraband transitions, such as intersubband transitions (ISBTs) [1] and cyclotron resonance (CR) [22], are much better candidates for accomplishing ultrastrong coupling because of their small ω 0 , typically in the midinfared and terahertz (THz) range, and their enormous dipole moments (10s of e-Å). Experimentally, ultrastrong coupling has indeed been achieved in GaAs QWs using ISBTs [10,11] and CR [12,13]. In the latter case, a record high value of g/ω 0 = 0.87 has been reported [13].…”

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confidence: 84%

“…In addition, strong coherent light-matter interaction in a solid-state environment is of great interest to emerging quantum-based technologies [8,9]. However, creating a system that combines a long electronic coherence time, a large dipole moment, and a high cavity quality (Q) factor has been a challenging goal [10][11][12][13]. Here, we report collective ultrastrong light-matter coupling in an ultrahigh-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in a high-Q terahertz photonic-crystal cavity in a quantizing magnetic field, demonstrating a cooperativity of ∼360.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Collective non-perturbative coupling of 2D electrons with high-quality-factor terahertz cavity photons

et al. 2016

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Nonperturbative coupling of light with condensed matter in an optical cavity is expected to reveal a host of coherent many-body phenomena and states [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In addition, strong coherent light-matter interaction in a solid-state environment is of great interest to emerging quantum-based technologies [8,9]. However, creating a system that combines a long electronic coherence time, a large dipole moment, and a high cavity quality (Q) factor has been a challenging goal [10][11][12][13]. Here, we report collective ultrastrong light-matter coupling in an ultrahigh-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in a high-Q terahertz photonic-crystal cavity in a quantizing magnetic field, demonstrating a cooperativity of ∼360. The splitting of cyclotron resonance (CR) into the lower and upper polariton branches exhibited a √ ne-dependence on the electron density (ne), a hallmark of collective vacuum Rabi splitting. Furthermore, a small but definite blue shift was observed for the polariton frequencies due to the normally negligible A 2 term in the light-matter interaction Hamiltonian. Finally, the high-Q cavity suppressed the superradiant decay of coherent CR, which resulted in an unprecedentedly narrow intrinsic CR linewidth of 5.6 GHz at 2 K. These results open up a variety of new possibilities to combine the traditional disciplines of many-body condensed matter physics and cavity-based quantum optics.PACS numbers: 78.67. De, 76.40.+b, 78.47.jh Strong resonant light-matter coupling in a cavity setting is an essential ingredient in fundamental cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) studies [14] as well as in cavity-QED-based quantum information processing [8,9]. In particular, a variety of solid-state cavity QED systems have recently been examined [15][16][17][18], not only for the purpose of developing scalable quantum technologies, but also for exploring novel many-body effects inherent to condensed matter. For example, collective √ N -fold enhancement of light-matter coupling in an N -body system [19], combined with colossal dipole moments available in solids, compared to traditional atomic systems, is promising for entering uncharted regimes of ultrastrong light-matter coupling. Nonintuitive quantum phenomena can occur in such regimes, including a "squeezed" vacuum state [1], the Dicke superradiant phase transition [2,3], the breakdown of the Purcell effect [4], and quantum vacuum radiation [5] induced by the dynamic Casimir effect [6,7].Specifically, in a cavity QED system, there are three rates that jointly characterize different light-matter coupling regimes: g, κ, and γ. The parameter g is the coupling constant, with 2g being the vacuum Rabi splitting between the two normal modes, the lower polariton (LP) and upper polariton (UP), of the coupled system. The parameter κ is the photon decay rate of the cavity; τ cav = κ −1 is the photon lifetime of the cavity, and the cavity Q = ω 0 τ cav at mode frequency ω 0 . The parameter γ is the nonresonant matter decay rate, which is usually the decoherence rate in ...

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confidence: 84%

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confidence: 99%

Collective non-perturbative coupling of 2D electrons with high-quality-factor terahertz cavity photons

et al. 2016

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“…An estimate of the number N of electrons involved in the light-matter coupling is provided for each resonator as well as its effective confinement. We see that C opt is close to unity for purely photonic resonators such as mesas, 21 but is reduced to 0.5 for typical planar metamaterials on a quantum-well slab. 7,8 Finally, for 3D structures enclosing an ultra-small semiconductor core, C is normally reduced down to a few percent, as in the case of vertical out-of-plane monopole antennas.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…21 From the expression for the Rabi splitting (2X Rabi ¼ ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi C opt p x plasma ), the only resonator-dependent degree of freedom is the electromagnetic overlap C opt . As a consequence, employing subwavelength resonators does not bring an improvement in terms of the strength of the light-matter coupling with respect to wavelength-scale structures.…”

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confidence: 99%

Room temperature strong light-matter coupling in three dimensional terahertz meta-atoms

Paulillo¹,

Manceau²,

et al. 2016

Applied Physics Letters

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We demonstrate strong light-matter coupling in three dimensional terahertz meta-atoms at room temperature. The intersubband transition of semiconductor quantum wells with a parabolic energy potential is strongly coupled to the confined circuital mode of three-dimensional split-ring metal-semiconductor-metal resonators that have an extreme sub-wavelength volume (λ/10). The frequency of these lumped-element resonators is controlled by the size and shape of the external antenna, while the interaction volume remains constant. This allows the resonance frequency to be swept across the intersubband transition and the anti-crossing characteristic of the strong light-matter coupling regime to be observed. The Rabi splitting, which is twice the Rabi frequency (2ΩRabi), amounts to 20% of the bare transition at room temperature, and it increases to 28% at low-temperature.

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“…Recently, nanostructured optical cavities have been used to reach a new regime of ultrastrong light-matter coupling (USC) where embedded quantum emitters absorb and reemit virtual photons at a rate comparable to the frequency of the bare cavity mode [1][2][3][4]. Nonadiabatic modulation of ultrastrong interaction was predicted to cause unconventional quantum electrodynamical phenomena, such as the release of correlated photon pairs [5].…”

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confidence: 99%

Sub-cycle switching of a photonic bandstructure via ultrastrong light-matter coupling

Ménard

Porer

Leitenstorfer

et al. 2013

EPJ Web of Conferences

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Abstract. Phase-locked multi-terahertz transients map out the full photonic bandstructure of a one-dimensional photonic crystal while a 12-fs control pulse activates ultrastrong interaction on a sub-cycle time scale with quantized electronic transitions in semiconductor quantum wells. We trace the build-up dynamics of a large vacuum Rabi splitting and observe an unexpected asymmetric formation of the upper and lower polariton bands. The pronounced flattening of the photonic bands causes a slow-down of the group velocity by one order of magnitude on the time scale of the oscillation period of light.Tailoring optical properties of solids on the sub-wavelength scale has opened exciting possibilities to shape the way light interacts with electronic excitations. Recently, nanostructured optical cavities have been used to reach a new regime of ultrastrong light-matter coupling (USC) where embedded quantum emitters absorb and reemit virtual photons at a rate comparable to the frequency of the bare cavity mode [1][2][3][4]. Nonadiabatic modulation of ultrastrong interaction was predicted to cause unconventional quantum electrodynamical phenomena, such as the release of correlated photon pairs [5]. Experimentally, phase-sensitive multi-THz optoelectronics has been exploited to trace ultrafast activation of USC [2]. First proof-of-principle studies, however, have allowed for a limited control of the dispersion of the photon field only, besides requiring complex coupling geometries.Here, we combine a one-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) with optically switchable intersubband (ISB) resonances of semiconductor quantum wells (QWs) in order to approach full spatial and temporal control of light. Phase-locked multi-terahertz transients trace an asymmetric formation of the lower polariton (LP) and upper polariton (UP) branches on a time scale of the oscillation period of light. A pronounced flattening of the photonic bands causes a slow-down of the group velocity by one order of magnitude [6]. The room-temperature switching device operated in straightforward transmission geometry paves the way towards studies of nonadiabatic quantum electrodynamics (QED) phenomena. Figure 1a depicts the design of the semiconductor device used in our experiments. A 2 µm thick Al 0.95 Ga 0.05 As cladding layer followed by a sequence of 50 GaAs/Al 0.33 Ga 0.67 As QWs is epitaxially grown on an undoped GaAs substrate. The QW region supports a planar waveguide mode. A gold grating, with a period of a = 3.6 or 4.1 µm, is then thermally evaporated on the sample surface. The purpose of this grating is twofold: it enables surface plasmon propagation within the QW region and EPJ Web of Conferences

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Strong Light-Matter Coupling in Subwavelength Metal-Dielectric Microcavities at Terahertz Frequencies

Cited by 191 publications

References 22 publications

Collective non-perturbative coupling of 2D electrons with high-quality-factor terahertz cavity photons

Collective non-perturbative coupling of 2D electrons with high-quality-factor terahertz cavity photons

Room temperature strong light-matter coupling in three dimensional terahertz meta-atoms

Sub-cycle switching of a photonic bandstructure via ultrastrong light-matter coupling

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