Ultrahigh-Q toroidal microresonators for cavity quantum electrodynamics

S. M. Spillane, T. J. Kippenberg, K. J. Vahala, K. W. Goh, E. Wilcut, and H. J. Kimble
Phys. Rev. A 71, 013817 – Published 26 January 2005

Abstract

We investigate the suitability of toroidal microcavities for strong-coupling cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED). Numerical modeling of the optical modes demonstrate a significant reduction of the modal volume with respect to the whispering gallery modes of dielectric spheres, while retaining the high-quality factors representative of spherical cavities. The extra degree of freedom of toroid microcavities can be used to achieve improved cavity QED characteristics. Numerical results for atom-cavity coupling strength g, critical atom number N0, and critical photon number n0 for cesium are calculated and shown to exceed values currently possible using Fabry-Perot cavities. Modeling predicts coupling rates g2π exceeding 700MHz and critical atom numbers approaching 107 in optimized structures. Furthermore, preliminary experimental measurements of toroidal cavities at a wavelength of 852nm indicate that quality factors in excess of 108 can be obtained in a 50μm principal diameter cavity, which would result in strong-coupling values of (g(2π),n0,N0)=(86MHz,4.6×104,1.0×103).

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  • Received 27 August 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.71.013817

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

S. M. Spillane, T. J. Kippenberg, and K. J. Vahala

  • Thomas J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

K. W. Goh, E. Wilcut, and H. J. Kimble

  • Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA

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Vol. 71, Iss. 1 — January 2005

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