Letter abstract
Nature Photonics 1, 331 - 335 (2007)
Published online: 1 June 2007 | doi:10.1038/nphoton.2007.74
Subject Categories: Spectroscopy | Optoelectronic devices and components
Atomic spectroscopy on a chip
Wenge Yang1, Donald B. Conkey2, Bin Wu1, Dongliang Yin1, Aaron R. Hawkins2 & Holger Schmidt1
Abstract
Guiding light through hollow optical waveguides has opened the field of photonics to the investigation of non-solid materials that have all the convenience of integrated optics. Of particular interest is the confinement of atomic vapours, such as rubidium, because of its wide range of applications, including slow and stopped light1, single-photon nonlinear optics2, quantum information processing3, precision spectroscopy4 and frequency stabilization5. Here, we present the first monolithically integrated rubidium vapour cell using hollow-core antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides (ARROWs) on a silicon chip. The cells have a footprint of less than 1 cm2, fully planar fibre-optical access, and a cell volume more than 7 orders of magnitude less than conventional bulk cells. The micrometre-sized mode areas enable high beam intensities over near centimetre lengths. We demonstrate optical densities in excess of 2, and saturation absorption spectroscopy on a chip. These results allow the study of atoms and molecules on a platform that combines the advantages of photonic-crystal-like structures with integrated optics.
- School of Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
- ECEn Department, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602, USA
Correspondence to: Holger Schmidt1 e-mail: hschmidt@soe.ucsc.edu
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