Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 54: Poster 3

Q 54.49: Poster

Thursday, March 15, 2012, 16:30–19:00, Poster.I+II

Experimental investigation of thermal and mechanical properties of a subwavelength-diameter silica fiber — •Christian Wuttke and Arno Rauschenbeutel — VCQ, TU Wien – Atominstitut, Stadionallee 2, A-1020 Wien

Subwavelength-diamter optical fibers have proven to be a powerful tool for coupling light and matter. Furthermore, thanks to their evanescent field, they can be used as coupling devices for optical cavities like, e.g., whispering-gallery-mode microresonators. For many of these applications, the mechanical and thermal properties of the subwavelength-diameter fiber are of relevance. However, these properties are not easily calculated. As an example, the transverse dimension of the subwavelength-diameter fiber is comparable to the thermal wavelength. Thus, the thermal radiation differs from the classical blackbody spectrum. For this reason, we carry out experimental investigations using a Fabry-Pérot type optical resonator. It is based on a tapered optical fiber (TOF), equipped with two fiber Bragg gratings which enclose a subwavelength-diameter waist. Since the TOF is inside the resonator volume, this enables us to measure changes of the subwavelength-diameter fiber properties with high precision. We present the current status of the experiments.

We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the Volkswagen Foundation and the ESF.