The interaction of light and matter in a microcavity depends crucially on the position of the emitter in the spatial field distribution of the resonator mode. In an ideal experiment one would like to place an emitter at will within the mode of the cavity to change the interaction strength in a controllable fashion. Although several efforts have aimed at the realization of such a scheme [1, 2, 3], its application remains an experimental challenge. Fabry-Perot microresonators constitute a promising route for a controlled coupling of atoms in the gas phase [4] as well as for solid state systems [5] and molecules [6]. Here we present the selective coupling of fluorescent nanoparticles and single molecules to a tunable, fiber-based, scannable microcavity [7]. By scanning the cavity laterally, we can choose to address different emitters in the same sample. In future, we plan to extend these experiments to cryogenic temperatures and cavities with much higher finesse. With high-quality host crystals like anthracene, DBT has proven to be an efficient and stable source for lifetimed-limited single photons [8]. However, as in other organic molecules, the pure electronic transition represents just one of the many decay channels of the excited state. Enhancement of spontaneous emission on this transition in a high-finesse microcavity will improve its branching ratio and bring a single molecule an important step closer to a two-level quantum optical system.

References
[1] S. Götzinger et al., Nano Letters 6, 1151 (2006).
[2] G. R. Guthohrlein, M. Keller, K. Hayasaka, W. Lange, and H. Walther, Nature 414, 49 (2001).
[3] K. Hennessy et al., Nature 445, 896 (2007).
[4] Y. Colombe, et al., Nature 450, 272 (2007).
[5] A. Müller, E. B. Flagg, M. Metcalfe, J. Lawall, and G. S. Solomon, Applied Physics Letters 95, 173101 (2009).
[6] A. Chizhik, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 073002 (2009).
[7] C. Toninelli, et al., “A scanning microcavity for in situ control of single-molecule emission”, App. Phys. Lett., 97, 021107, (2010)
[8] J.-B. Trebbia, H. Ruf, P. Tamarat, and B. Lounis, Opt. Express 17, 23986 (2009).


Seminar, November 12, 2010, 12:00. Seminar Room

Hosted by Prof. Romain Quidant