Saturated absorption at nanowatt power levels using metastable xenon in a high-finesse optical cavity

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2014

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

G. T. Hickman, T. B. Pittman, and J. D. Franson, "Saturated absorption at nanowatt power levels using metastable xenon in a high-finesse optical cavity," Opt. Express 22, 22882-22887 (2014), doi: https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.22.022882

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Subjects

Abstract

Strong saturated absorption at nanowatt power levels has been demonstrated using metastable xenon in a high finesse optical cavity. The use of metastable xenon allows a high quality factor of Q = 2 × 10⁸ to be achieved at relatively high atomic densities without any contamination or damage to the optical surfaces, which is often a problem when using high-density rubidium or other alkali atoms. This technique provides a relatively straightforward way to produce nonlinearities at the single-photon level with possible applications in quantum communications and computing.