Integrated Devices for On-Chip Quantum Optics

• Author / Creator

  Potts, Clinton A

• This thesis describes the fabrication and characterization of on-chip dome-shaped, Fabry-Perot microcavities for quantum-optics applications. Arrays of cavities were fabricated via a guided delamination buckling self-assembly process within SiO2/Ta2O5 multilayers. This process results in highly symmetric cavities, which exhibit minimal geometrical defects and a morphology that is well-described by elastic buckling theory. Optical measurements revealed reflection-limited finesse of ~3500, suggesting these cavities have few defects and exhibit low surface roughness. Furthermore, these cavities preferentially supported Laguerre-Gaussian modes as a result of the high degree of cylindrical symmetry. The viability of utilizing such cavities for cavity quantum electrodynamics application was theoretically examined using the extracted parameters. As a result of the small mode volume, these cavities were predicted to exhibit an exceptionally high atom-cavity coupling rate, g ~ 2pi x 1.1 GHz. However, the strong-coupling parameter g/kappa ~ 0.2 placed the as-fabricated cavities in the weakly coupled regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics. On the other hand, a single-atom cooperativity of ~30 was estimated, suggesting such cavities may be utilized to implement highly-efficient single-photon sources. Furthermore, the low mode-volume and potential for open-access suggests that these cavities have potential for diverse applications such as lab-on-chip sensing and implementation of dye-based lasers.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Optics
  • Integrated Devices

• Graduation date

  Spring 2017

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3ZW19488

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.