We demonstrate an ultra-low light level optical modulator using a tapered nano fiber embedded in a hot rubidium vapor. The control and signal beams are co-propagating but orthogonally polarized, leading to a degenerate V-system involving coherent superpositions of Zeeman sublevels. The modulation is due primarily to the quantum Zeno effect for the signal beam induced by the control beam. For a control power of 40 nW and a signal power of 100 pW, we observe near 100% modulation. The ultra-low power level needed for the modulation is due to a combination of the Zeno effect and the extreme field localization in the evanescent field around the taper.

© 2011 OSA

1. S. E. Harris and Y. Yamamoto, “Photon switching by quantum interference,” Phys. Rev. Lett.81(17), 3611–3614 (1998). [CrossRef]
2. R. G. Beausoleil, W. J. Munro, D. A. Rodrigues, and T. P. Spiller, “Applications of electromagnetically induced transparency to quantum information processing,” J. Mod. Opt.51(16-18), 2441–2448 (2004). [CrossRef]
3. A. M. C. Dawes, L. Illing, S. M. Clark, and D. J. Gauthier, “All-optical switching in rubidium vapor,” Science308, 672–674 (2005).
4. Q. Xu and M. Lipson, “All-optical logic based on silicon micro-ring resonators,” Opt. Express15(3), 924–929 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
5. M. Bajcsy, S. Hofferberth, V. Balic, T. Peyronel, M. Hafezi, A. S. Zibrov, V. Vuletic, and M. D. Lukin, “Efficient all-optical switching using slow light within a hollow fiber,” Phys. Rev. Lett.102(20), 203902 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
6. V. Venkataraman, P. Londero, A. R. Bhagwat, A. D. Slepkov, and A. L. Gaeta, “All-optical modulation of four-wave mixing in an Rb-filled photonic bandgap fiber,” Opt. Lett.35(13), 2287–2289 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
7. S. M. Spillane, G. S. Pati, K. Salit, M. Hall, P. Kumar, R. G. Beausoleil, and M. S. Shahriar, “Observation of nonlinear optical interactions of ultralow levels of light in a tapered optical nanofiber embedded in a hot rubidium vapor,” Phys. Rev. Lett.100(23), 233602 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
8. G. Brambilla, V. Finazzi, and D. J. Richardson, “Ultra-low-loss optical fiber nanotapers,” Opt. Express12(10), 2258–2263 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
9. S. M. Hendrickson, M. M. Lai, T. B. Pittman, and J. D. Franson, “Observation of two-photon absorption at low power levels using tapered optical fibers in rubidium vapor,” Phys. Rev. Lett.105(17), 173602 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
10. T. A. Birks, W. J. Wadsworth, and P. St. J. Russell, “Supercontinuum generation in tapered fibers,” Opt. Lett.25(19), 1415–1417 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
11. S. M. Spillane, T. J. Kippenberg, O. J. Painter, and K. J. Vahala, “Ideality in a fiber-taper-coupled microresonator system for application to cavity quantum electrodynamics,” Phys. Rev. Lett.91(4), 043902 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
12. D. J. Alton, N. P. Stern, T. Aoki, H. Lee, E. Ostby, K. J. Vahala, and H. J. Kimble, “Strong interactions of single atoms and photons near a dielectric boundary,” Nat. Phys.7(2), 159–165 (2011). [CrossRef]
13. T. Allsop, F. Floreani, K. P. Jedrzejewski, P. V. S. Marques, R. Romero, D. J. Webb, and I. Bennion, “Spectral characteristics of tapered LPG device as a sensing element for refractive index and temperature,” J. Lightwave Technol.24(2), 870–878 (2006). [CrossRef]
14. J. Villatoro and D. Monzón-Hernández, “Fast detection of hydrogen with nano fiber tapers coated with ultra thin palladium layers,” Opt. Express13(13), 5087–5092 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
15. K. P. Nayak, F. L. Le Kien, M. Morinaga, and K. Hakuta, “Antibunching and bunching of photons in resonance fluorescence from a few atoms into guided modes of an optical nanofiber,” Phys. Rev. A79(2), 021801(R) (2009). [CrossRef]
16. V. G. Minogin and S. N. Chormaic, “Manifestation of the van der Waals Surface Interaction in the Spontaneous Emission of Atoms into an Optical Nanofiber,” Laser Phys.20(1), 32–37 (2010). [CrossRef]
17. E. Vetsch, D. Reitz, G. Sagué, R. Schmidt, S. T. Dawkins, and A. Rauschenbeutel, “Optical interface created by laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber,” Phys. Rev. Lett.104(20), 203603 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
18. S. Weis, R. Rivière, S. Deléglise, E. Gavartin, O. Arcizet, A. Schliesser, and T. J. Kippenberg, “Optomechanically Induced Transparency,” Science330(6010), 1520–1523 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
19. J. M. Ward, Y. Wu, V. G. Minogin, and S. N. Chormaic, “Trapping of a microsphere pendulum resonator in an optical potential,” Phys. Rev. A79(5), 053839 (2009). [CrossRef]
20. S. Ghosh, A. R. Bhagwat, C. K. Renshaw, S. Goh, A. L. Gaeta, and B. J. Kirby, “Low-Light-Level Optical Interactions with Rubidium Vapor in a Photonic Band-Gap Fiber,” Phys. Rev. Lett.97(2), 023603 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
21. W. Yang, D. B. Conkey, B. Wu, D. Yin, A. R. Hawkins, and H. Schmidt, “Atomic spectroscopy on a chip,” Nat. Photonics1(6), 331–335 (2007). [CrossRef]
22. B. Misra and E. C. G. Sudarshan, “The Zeno’s paradox in quantum theory,” J. Math. Phys.18(4), 756–763 (1977). [CrossRef]
23. W. M. Itano, D. J. Heinzen, J. J. Bollinger, and D. J. Wineland, “Quantum Zeno Effect,” Phys. Rev. A41(5), 2295–2300 (1990). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
24. Y. Huang, J. B. Altepeter, and P. Kumar, “Interaction-free all-optical switching via the quantum Zeno effect,” Phys. Rev. A82(6), 063826 (2010). [CrossRef]
25. C. Cohen-Tannoudji and S. Reynaud; “Dressed-atom description of resonance fluorescence and absorption spectra of a multi-level atom in an intense laser beam,” J. Phys. B10(3), 345–363 (1977) (old 16). [CrossRef]
26. E. R. I. Abraham and E. A. Cornell, “Teflon feedthrough for coupling optical fibers into ultrahigh vacuum systems,” Appl. Opt.37(10), 1762–1763 (1998). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
27. B. V. Zhdanov and R. J. Knize, “Progress in alkali lasers development,” Proc. SPIE6874, 68740F, 68740F-12 (2008) (and references therein). [CrossRef]
28. S. M. Hendrickson, T. B. Pittman, and J. D. Franson, “Nonlinear transmission through a tapered fiber in rubidium vapor,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B26(2), 267 (2009). [CrossRef]

Appl. Opt.

• E. R. I. Abraham and E. A. Cornell, “Teflon feedthrough for coupling optical fibers into ultrahigh vacuum systems,” Appl. Opt.37(10), 1762–1763 (1998). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

J. Lightwave Technol.

• T. Allsop, F. Floreani, K. P. Jedrzejewski, P. V. S. Marques, R. Romero, D. J. Webb, and I. Bennion, “Spectral characteristics of tapered LPG device as a sensing element for refractive index and temperature,” J. Lightwave Technol.24(2), 870–878 (2006). [CrossRef]

J. Math. Phys.

• B. Misra and E. C. G. Sudarshan, “The Zeno’s paradox in quantum theory,” J. Math. Phys.18(4), 756–763 (1977). [CrossRef]

J. Mod. Opt.

• R. G. Beausoleil, W. J. Munro, D. A. Rodrigues, and T. P. Spiller, “Applications of electromagnetically induced transparency to quantum information processing,” J. Mod. Opt.51(16-18), 2441–2448 (2004). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

• S. M. Hendrickson, T. B. Pittman, and J. D. Franson, “Nonlinear transmission through a tapered fiber in rubidium vapor,” J. Opt. Soc. Am. B26(2), 267 (2009). [CrossRef]

J. Phys. B

• C. Cohen-Tannoudji and S. Reynaud; “Dressed-atom description of resonance fluorescence and absorption spectra of a multi-level atom in an intense laser beam,” J. Phys. B10(3), 345–363 (1977) (old 16). [CrossRef]

Laser Phys.

• V. G. Minogin and S. N. Chormaic, “Manifestation of the van der Waals Surface Interaction in the Spontaneous Emission of Atoms into an Optical Nanofiber,” Laser Phys.20(1), 32–37 (2010). [CrossRef]

Nat. Photonics

• W. Yang, D. B. Conkey, B. Wu, D. Yin, A. R. Hawkins, and H. Schmidt, “Atomic spectroscopy on a chip,” Nat. Photonics1(6), 331–335 (2007). [CrossRef]

Nat. Phys.

• D. J. Alton, N. P. Stern, T. Aoki, H. Lee, E. Ostby, K. J. Vahala, and H. J. Kimble, “Strong interactions of single atoms and photons near a dielectric boundary,” Nat. Phys.7(2), 159–165 (2011). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• J. Villatoro and D. Monzón-Hernández, “Fast detection of hydrogen with nano fiber tapers coated with ultra thin palladium layers,” Opt. Express13(13), 5087–5092 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• Q. Xu and M. Lipson, “All-optical logic based on silicon micro-ring resonators,” Opt. Express15(3), 924–929 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• G. Brambilla, V. Finazzi, and D. J. Richardson, “Ultra-low-loss optical fiber nanotapers,” Opt. Express12(10), 2258–2263 (2004). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• V. Venkataraman, P. Londero, A. R. Bhagwat, A. D. Slepkov, and A. L. Gaeta, “All-optical modulation of four-wave mixing in an Rb-filled photonic bandgap fiber,” Opt. Lett.35(13), 2287–2289 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• T. A. Birks, W. J. Wadsworth, and P. St. J. Russell, “Supercontinuum generation in tapered fibers,” Opt. Lett.25(19), 1415–1417 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Phys. Rev. A

• K. P. Nayak, F. L. Le Kien, M. Morinaga, and K. Hakuta, “Antibunching and bunching of photons in resonance fluorescence from a few atoms into guided modes of an optical nanofiber,” Phys. Rev. A79(2), 021801(R) (2009). [CrossRef]
• W. M. Itano, D. J. Heinzen, J. J. Bollinger, and D. J. Wineland, “Quantum Zeno Effect,” Phys. Rev. A41(5), 2295–2300 (1990). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• Y. Huang, J. B. Altepeter, and P. Kumar, “Interaction-free all-optical switching via the quantum Zeno effect,” Phys. Rev. A82(6), 063826 (2010). [CrossRef]
• J. M. Ward, Y. Wu, V. G. Minogin, and S. N. Chormaic, “Trapping of a microsphere pendulum resonator in an optical potential,” Phys. Rev. A79(5), 053839 (2009). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• S. Ghosh, A. R. Bhagwat, C. K. Renshaw, S. Goh, A. L. Gaeta, and B. J. Kirby, “Low-Light-Level Optical Interactions with Rubidium Vapor in a Photonic Band-Gap Fiber,” Phys. Rev. Lett.97(2), 023603 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• E. Vetsch, D. Reitz, G. Sagué, R. Schmidt, S. T. Dawkins, and A. Rauschenbeutel, “Optical interface created by laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber,” Phys. Rev. Lett.104(20), 203603 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S. M. Spillane, T. J. Kippenberg, O. J. Painter, and K. J. Vahala, “Ideality in a fiber-taper-coupled microresonator system for application to cavity quantum electrodynamics,” Phys. Rev. Lett.91(4), 043902 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S. E. Harris and Y. Yamamoto, “Photon switching by quantum interference,” Phys. Rev. Lett.81(17), 3611–3614 (1998). [CrossRef]
• S. M. Spillane, G. S. Pati, K. Salit, M. Hall, P. Kumar, R. G. Beausoleil, and M. S. Shahriar, “Observation of nonlinear optical interactions of ultralow levels of light in a tapered optical nanofiber embedded in a hot rubidium vapor,” Phys. Rev. Lett.100(23), 233602 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• S. M. Hendrickson, M. M. Lai, T. B. Pittman, and J. D. Franson, “Observation of two-photon absorption at low power levels using tapered optical fibers in rubidium vapor,” Phys. Rev. Lett.105(17), 173602 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• M. Bajcsy, S. Hofferberth, V. Balic, T. Peyronel, M. Hafezi, A. S. Zibrov, V. Vuletic, and M. D. Lukin, “Efficient all-optical switching using slow light within a hollow fiber,” Phys. Rev. Lett.102(20), 203902 (2009). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Proc. SPIE

• B. V. Zhdanov and R. J. Knize, “Progress in alkali lasers development,” Proc. SPIE6874, 68740F, 68740F-12 (2008) (and references therein). [CrossRef]

Science

• A. M. C. Dawes, L. Illing, S. M. Clark, and D. J. Gauthier, “All-optical switching in rubidium vapor,” Science308, 672–674 (2005).
• S. Weis, R. Rivière, S. Deléglise, E. Gavartin, O. Arcizet, A. Schliesser, and T. J. Kippenberg, “Optomechanically Induced Transparency,” Science330(6010), 1520–1523 (2010). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Click here to see a list of articles that cite this paper

Related Journal Articles

• Polarization-locked temporal vector solitons in a fiber laser: experiment (JOSAB)
• Propagation and transformation properties of an elliptic Gaussian optical beam with a Kerr-law nonlinear graded-index rod lens (JOSAB)
• Effect of stimulated Brillouin scattering on nonlinear pulse propagation in fiber Bragg gratings (JOSAB)
• Carbon dioxide laser-assisted poling of silicate-based optical fibers (OL)
• Novel schemes to generate multi-level modulation formats for ultra-capacity coherent detection transmission systems (Invited Paper) (COL)

Related Conference Papers

• Chaos synchronization of a passive fibre resonator using the auxiliary system and applications to chaos masking
• Self-phase modulation instability in normal dispersion regime
• Nonlinearity management in hybrid amplification systems
• Nonlinear switching and filtering dynamics in double-loop fiber Sagnac filter
• Controlled switching of discrete solitons in arrays of cubic and quadratic nonlinear optical waveguides