Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 73: Photonics II

Q 73.3: Talk

Friday, March 27, 2015, 15:00–15:15, B/gHS

Frequency splitting of polarization eigenmodes in microscopic Fabry-Perot cavities — •Manuel Brekenfeld, Manuel Uphoff, Stephan Ritter, and Gerhard Rempe — Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1, 85748 Garching

In recent years, microfabricated Fabry-Perot cavities have been developed. They enable small mode volumes but have shown an increased frequency splitting of the polarization eigenmodes of fundamental transverse modes. This splitting must be controlled for a number of applications ranging from polarimetry to quantum information processing based on cavity quantum electrodynamics. We studied this frequency splitting using CO₂ laser-machined cavities and found that it results from elliptical deviations of the mirror surfaces from a rotationally symmetric shape [1]. An analytic model which explains the frequency splitting of polarization eigenmodes in such cavities is in excellent agreement with measurements we made on CO₂ laser-machined high-finesse cavities. The model is based on a correction to the paraxial resonator theory, revealing why the effect becomes relevant in microscopic Fabry-Perot cavities. The gained knowledge will help to control the polarization-dependent frequency splitting in microscopic Fabry-Perot cavities and allow the employment of these cavities in experiments which require degenerate polarization eigenmodes.

[1] M. Uphoff et al., arXiv:1408.4367 (2014)