Solid-state cavity QED, and Optical cooling of micro-mechanical systems
Dirk Bouwmeester
University of California, Santa Barbara, US.
Abstract: Experimental approaches to the study of single electrons in optically active single, pairs and arrays of quantum dots (both colloidal and
self-assembled) will be presented. Placing the quantum dots inside
micropillars or photonic crystal structures enhances the interaction of
the quantum dots with photons. Initial experimental progress on
solid-state cavity QED effects have led us to the unexpected observation
of ultra low threshold lasing of a photonic crystal defect mode cavity
embedded with only 1 to 3 InAs self-assembled quantum dots as gain medium.
Photon correlation measurements confirm the transition from a thermal
light source to a coherent light source.
A second topic that will be addressed is an experiment that aims to create
a quantum superposition of a macroscopic object in the form of two
center-of-mass motions of a tiny optical mirror attached to a
micromechanical cantilever. Based on current state-of-the-art experimental
techniques a scheme is proposed that can lead to a quantum superposition
about 10 orders of magnitude more massive than any superposition
demonstrated to date. A crucial part of the proposed experiment is to
perform optical cooling of the optomechanical micro system. Experimental
results will be shown that demonstrate the optical cooling from room
temperature to below 1 Kelvin.