DTU Fotonik, Department of Photonics Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Building 343, DK-2800 Kgs., Lyngby, Denmark.
Sci Rep. 2017 May 18;7(1):2123. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-02394-9.
Photon's effective mass is an important parameter of an optical cavity mode, which determines the strength of light-matter interaction. Here, we propose a novel method for controlling the photon's effective mass by using coupled photonic cavities and designing the angular dependence of the coupling strength. This can be implemented by employing a high-contrast grating (HCG) as the coupling reflector in a system of two coupled vertical cavities, and engineering both the HCG reflection phase and amplitude response. Several examples of HCG-based coupled cavities with novel features are discussed, including a case capable of dynamically controlling the photon's effective mass to a large extent while keeping the resonance frequency same. We believe that full-control and dynamical-tuning of the photon's effective mass may enable new possibilities for cavity quantum electrodynamics studies or conventional/polariton laser applications. For instance, one can dynamically control the condensate formation in polariton lasers by modifying the polariton mass.
光子的有效质量是光腔模式的一个重要参数，它决定了光物质相互作用的强度。在这里，我们提出了一种通过使用耦合光子腔和设计耦合强度的角依赖性来控制光子有效质量的新方法。这可以通过在两个垂直腔的系统中使用高对比度光栅（HCG）作为耦合反射器来实现，并对 HCG 的反射相位和幅度响应进行工程设计。讨论了几种具有新颖特性的基于 HCG 的耦合腔示例，包括一种能够在保持共振频率相同的情况下，在很大程度上动态控制光子有效质量的情况。我们相信光子有效质量的完全控制和动态调整可能为腔量子电动力学研究或传统/极化激元激光应用开辟新的可能性。例如，可以通过改变极化激元质量来动态控制极化激元激光器中的凝聚态形成。
