|
|
|
|
Introduction This website is made as a final assignment for the course Quantum Optics. The Complex Photonic Systems (COPS) group at the University of Twente (UT) attends this course. Dr. A.P. Mosk helped us with this assignment and corrected the content. For this we want to thank him. We tried to create a basis for better understanding the article Vacuum Rabi splitting with a single quantum dot in a photonic crystal nanocavity1 of Yoshie et al. The article describes a single quantum dot embedded in the spacer of a nanocavity, showing vacuum-field Rabi oscillations. These oscillations exceed the decoherence linewidths of both the nanocavity and the quantum dot. By adding merely a single photon or a single atom, the optical properties of the truly quantum system are changed. This allows one to study the quantum-classical boundary. First, we explain what optical cavities and quantum dots are and how they interact with light. With the right specifications it is possible to show vacuum-field Rabi oscillations using a single quantum dot placed in an optical cavity. To get an idea what these Rabi oscillations are, we will give a quantitative description and also explain the semi-classical Rabi model and the quantum electrodynamic version of this model: the Jaynes-Cummings model. We will show that vacuum-field Rabi oscillations are only possible in the full quantum model. Enjoy! Edwin van der Pol |