Abstract
Optical microcavities with ultralong photon storage times are of central importance for integrated nanophotonics. To date, record quality () factors up to have been measured in millimetric-size single-crystal whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) resonators, and 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 ). As a result, a photon lifetime up to 2.5 ms at room temperature has been measured, corresponding to a factor of at 1530 nm. This system could yield a new type of optical memory microarray with ultralong storage times.
- Received 20 November 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.133902
© 2016 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
Photon’s Lifetime Extended
Published 29 March 2016
Introducing a slow-light medium into an optical microresonator extends the lifetime of a photon circulating in the device by several orders of magnitude.
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