Antiphase domain tailoring for combination of modal and 4¯ -quasi-phase matching in gallium phosphide microdisks.

We propose a novel phase-matching scheme in GaP whispering-gallery-mode microdisks grown on Si substrate combining modal and 4¯ -quasi-phase-matching for second-harmonic-generation. The technique consists in unlocking parity-forbidden processes by tailoring the antiphase domain distribution in the GaP layer. Our proposal can be used to overcome the limitations of form birefringence phase-matching and 4¯ -quasi-phase-matching using high order whispering-gallery-modes. The high frequency conversion efficiency of this new scheme demonstrates the competitiveness of nonlinear photonic devices monolithically integrated on silicon.

Millisecond Photon Lifetime in a Slow-Light Microcavity.

Optical microcavities with ultralong photon storage times are of central importance for integrated nanophotonics. To date, record quality (Q) factors up to 10^{11} have been measured in millimetric-size single-crystal whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) resonators, and 10^{10} in silica or glass microresonators. We show that, by introducing slow-light effects in an active WGM microresonator, it is possible to enhance the photon lifetime by several orders of magnitude, thus circumventing both fabrication imperfections and residual absorption. The slow-light effect is obtained from coherent population oscillations in an erbium-doped fluoride glass microsphere, producing strong dispersion of the WGM (group index n_{g}∼10^{6}). As a result, a photon lifetime up to 2.5 ms at room temperature has been measured, corresponding to a Q factor of 3×10^{12} at 1530 nm. This system could yield a new type of optical memory microarray with ultralong storage times.

Cavity-enhanced room-temperature magnetometry using absorption by nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond.

We demonstrate a cavity-enhanced room-temperature magnetic field sensor based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. Magnetic resonance is detected using absorption of light resonant with the 1042 nm spin-singlet transition. The diamond is placed in an external optical cavity to enhance the absorption, and significant absorption is observed even at room temperature. We demonstrate a magnetic field sensitivity of 2.5 nT/Hz, and project a photon shot-noise-limited sensitivity of 70 pT/Hz for a few mW of infrared light, and a quantum projection-noise-limited sensitivity of 250 fT/Hz for the sensing volume of ∼90 µm×90 µm×200 µm.

Controling the coupling properties of active ultrahigh-Q WGM microcavities from undercoupling to selective amplification.

Ultrahigh-quality (Q) factor microresonators have a lot of applications in the photonics domain ranging from low-threshold nonlinear optics to integrated optical sensors. Glass-based whispering gallery mode (WGM) microresonators are easy to produce by melting techniques, however they suffer from surface contamination which limits their long-term quality factor to a few 10(8). Here we show that an optical gain provided by erbium ions can compensate for residual losses. Moreover it is possible to control the coupling regime of an ultrahigh Q-factor three port microresonator from undercoupling to spectral selective amplification by changing the pumping rate. The optical characterization method is based on frequency-swept cavity-ring-down-spectroscopy. This method allows the transmission and dispersive properties of perfectly transparent microresonators and intrinsic finesses up to 4.0 × 10(7) to be measured. Finally we characterize a critically coupled fluoride glass WGM microresonator with a diameter of 220 µm and a loaded Q-factor of 5.3 × 10(9) is demonstrated.

Enhancement of a nano cavity lifetime by induced slow light and nonlinear dispersions.

We start from a 2D photonic crystal nanocavity with moderate Q-factor and dynamically increase it by two order of magnitude by the joint action of coherent population oscillations and nonlinear refractive index.

High-gain wavelength-selective amplification and cavity ring down spectroscopy in a fluoride glass erbium-doped microsphere.

We experimentally demonstrate a compact optical amplifier consisting of a rare-earth-doped whispering-gallery-mode microsphere coupled via a tapered fiber. A gain up to 20 dB is reported in an erbium-doped fluoride glass microsphere 135 µm in diameter. Below the amplification regime, the optical gain is used to compensate for unavoidable losses due to surface contamination or scattering. Quality factor as high as 2×10(9) has been measured by analyzing the transient response of the microsphere excited by a dynamically shifted frequency input signal.

Nanocavity linewidth narrowing and group delay enhancement by slow light propagation and nonlinear effects.

Slow light induced by coherent population oscillations and cavity dispersive nonlinear response are combined achieving 2 orders of magnitude enhancement of the group delay and an equivalent decreasing of the spectral linewidth of a L3 two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity.

Second-harmonic generation in one-dimensional photonic edge waveguides.

Diffraction losses in one-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) waveguides are the primary limitation on second-harmonic (SH) conversion efficiency. By using a finite difference time domain (FDTD) code taking into account second-order nonlinear polarization, we investigated these losses numerically, particularly at the SH wavelength. We propose an efficient SH conversion scheme in Al(x)Ga(1-x)As/air-etched waveguides. An analytical model is used to extrapolate the conversion efficiency to a number of periods for which time consumption makes the FDTD codes unsuitable.

Phase-matched frequency doubling at photonic band edges: efficiency scaling as the fifth power of the length.

By exploiting the unique properties of periodic stratified media we demonstrate simultaneously phase matching and enhancement of the optical field under second order nonlinear interaction. This leads to a second harmonic efficiency growth faster than the fifth power of the structure length, far better than the usual quadratic behavior associated with second order nonlinear effects.

Photonic band edge effects in finite structures and applications to chi 2 interactions.

Using the concept of an effective medium, we derive coupled mode equations for nonlinear quadratic interactions in photonic band gap structures of finite length. The resulting equations reveal the essential roles played by the density of modes and effective phase matching conditions necessary for the strong enhancement of the nonlinear response. Our predictions find confirmation in an experimental demonstration of significant enhancement of second harmonic generation near the photonic band edge. The measured conversion efficiency is in good agreement with the conversion efficiency predicted by the effective-medium model.