Abstract
Optical resonance is central to a wide range of optical devices and techniques. In an optical cavity, the round-trip length and mirror reflectivity can be chosen to optimize the circulating optical power, linewidth, and free-spectral range (FSR) for a given application. In this paper we show how an atomic spinwave system, with no physical mirrors, can behave in a manner that is analogous to an optical cavity. We demonstrate this similarity by characterising the build-up and decay of the resonance in the time domain, and measuring the effective optical linewidth and FSR in the frequency domain. Our spinwave is generated in a 20 cm long Rb gas cell, yet it facilitates an effective FSR of 83 kHz, which would require a round-trip path of 3.6 km in a free-space optical cavity. Furthermore, the spinwave coupling is controllable enabling dynamic tuning of the effective cavity parameters.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 17633 |
Journal | Scientific reports |
Volume | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 10 2015 |
Funding
This research was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence scheme (CE110001027). BCB and PKL receive financial support from the ARC Future Fellowship scheme.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General