Light-Vapour Interactions at the Nanoscale

Project Information

LIVIN

Grant agreement ID: 648575

DOI

10.3030/648575

Project closed

EC signature date 27 May 2015

Start date 1 June 2015

End date 31 May 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 998 863,00

EU contribution

€ 1 998 863,00

Coordinated by

THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM
Israel

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - LIVIN (Light-Vapour Interactions at the Nanoscale)

Reporting period: 2019-12-01 to 2020-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The goal of this project is to study and better understand the interaction of light with atomic vapors at the nanoscale, as well as to demonstrate the usefulness of such interactions for chip scale practical applications.
It addresses the question of miniaturization versus performance. Is there a penalty in performance due to miniaturization? and if so, what is it and how it can be corrected? Finally, can we use the concept and technology to demonstrate devices for "real life" applications?
The importance and significance of the project for the society comes both from the aspect of fundamental understanding as well as from the great potential of achieving promising applications. In fact, the developed technology can lead to promising applications such as chip scale optical buffers and optical switching, frequency references and atomic clocks, and chip scale magnetometry.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project started by demonstrating our ability to achieve chip scale atomic spectroscopy. Next, we reported chip scale spectroscopy in long waveguides, with the capability of operating at more relaxed temperatures (around 65 Degrees centigrade) due to the longer interaction of light with vapors. Furthermore, we observe fascinating effects such as light shift and strong coupling. Furthermore, we demonstrated for the first time vapor-cavity interactions on a chip. We tuned the photonic resonance to the atomic resonance and controlled the dispersion. The enhancement of optical power in the cavity turned out to be crucial in reducing the amount of optical power needed to perform all optical switching.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The obtained results goes beyond the state of the art. For example, we have shown the interactions of plasmonic and atomic resonance in the presence of magnetic field, which was not demonstrated before. This might lead to new ways of performing magnetic imaging, and perhaps to advances versions of low cost MRI technology. This obviously will have a tremendous socio-economic impact.

plasmonic-sketch.png