Subwavelength arrays of quantum emitters feature unique and largely design-able nonlinear optical properties. As a generic example we study a sub-wavelength sized ring of identical dipoles with an extra identical absorbing emitter at the center. For a 9-ring one finds the most efficient antenna configuration to direct single incoming photons to the center without re-emission. Interestingly, for very tiny structures sizes below a tenth of a wavelength, a full quantum description predicts an even larger absorption enhancement than a mean field model using a classical dipole approximation. We identify the origin of the enhancement in the appearance of a collective dark state with dominant center occupation. By special design of the center absorber one thus can harness the same efficiency enhancement also at different wavelengths and for other geometric structures. On the one hand this idea could be the basis of a new generation of highly efficient and selective nano antennas, while on the other hand, it could be an important piece towards understanding the surprising efficiency of natural light harvesting molecules. Adding gain via active dipoles in such nano ring systems allows to design minimalist laser like classical light sources. In the nonlinear operating regime at stronger pump fields these systems transform to non-classical light sources with tailor-able spatio-temporal emission upon coherent illumination.
Single semiconductor quantum dots, due to their discrete energy structure, form single photon and twin photon sources that are characterized by a well-defined frequency of the emitted photons and inherently sub-Poissonian statistics. The single photons are generated through a recombination of an electron-hole pair formed by an electron from the conduction band and a hole from the valence band. When excited to the biexciton state quantum dots can provide pairs of photons emitted in a cascade. It has been shown that this biexciton-exciton cascade can deliver entangled pairs of photons. To achieve a deterministic generation of photon pairs from a quantum dot system one requires exciting it using a two-photon resonant excitation of the biexciton. Particularly, an efficient and coherent excitation of the biexciton requires the elimination of the single exciton probability amplitude in the excitation pulse and reaching the lowest possible degree of dephasing caused by the laser excitation. These two conditions impose contradictory demands on the excitation pulse-length and its intensity. We addressed this problem from a point of view that does not include interaction of the quantum dot with the semiconductor environment. We found an optimized operation regime for the system under consideration and provide guidelines on how to extend this study to other similar systems. In particular, our study shows that an optimal excitation process requires a trade-off between the biexciton binding energy and the excitation laser pulse length.
A laser can convert pump energy to light in a coherent single mode field of an optical resonator. If the energy is taken from a thermodynamic reservoir the energy conversion process reaches Carnot efficiency. From a different viewpoint, a laser thus can also be seen as a refrigerator for efficient heat extraction from hot environment via stimulated emission. This process can be studied well at a toy model of a quantum well structure with suitably designed tunnel-coupled wells kept at different temperature. Lasing appears concurrent with amplified heat flow and points to a new form of stimulated solid state cooling. From a practical point of view, this mechanism could help to raise the operating temperature limit of quantum cascade lasers by substituting phonon emission driven injection, which generates intrinsic heat, by an extended model with phonon absorption steps. Other implementations in systems with phonon driven up conversion of photons could be equally envisaged.
Light forces induced by scattering and absorption in elastic dielectrics lead to strain inducing local density
modulations and deformations. These perturbations in turn modify the light propagation and generate an
intricate nonlinear response. We generalise an analytic approach where light propagation in one-dimensional
media of inhomogeneous density is modelled as a result of multiple scattering between polarizable slices. Using
the Maxwell stress tensor formalism we compute the local optical forces and iteratively approach self-consistent
density distributions where the elastic back-action balances gradient- and scattering forces. For an optically
trapped finite dielectric we derive the nonlinear dependence of trap position, stiffness and total deformation
on the object’s size and field configuration. Generally trapping is enhanced by deformation, which exhibits a
periodic change between stretching and compression even allowing areas of bistability. This strongly deviates from
qualitative expectations based on the change of photon momentum of light crossing the surface of a dielectric.
Using an extension of the Scully—Lamb laser theory we show that by insertion of nonlinear elements in the cavity, laser light with nonclassical sub—Poissonian photon statistics can be generated. For an N—photon absorber in the limit of small saturation the variance of the photon number distribution can be reduced by a factor of (+1/N) compared to Poissonian limit of the usual laser. When we generalize the type of such nonlinear elements to the case of a nonlinear feedback or Raman type nonlinear transition, the noise in the laser intensity can be reduced even further and approach the ideal limit, characterized by a Mandel Q parameter of Q = —1. Furthermore we show how this noise reduction via nonlinearities can be combined with a regular pump mechanism, which recently has been sugessted as a way to generate sub—Poissonian light. It turns out that in certain configurations the effect of both methods can be combined. Finally we show how this nonclassical behaviour is also reflected in a reduction of the output intensity power spectra below the shot noise level.
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