Experimental Work in Quantum Optics at St Andrews
Experimental work in Quantum Optics is led by
Friedrich Koenig,
who also has a university web page at www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~fewk.
Please contact Dr. Koenig for research opportunities.
Fiber-Optical Analog of the Event Horizon
Our most recent work on artificial event horizons in optics, which are analogous to black hole and
white hole physics, is published at Science.
This ongoing project is in collaboration with the theoretical quantum optics group here
at St Andrews, and the project has its own page: Fibre-optical black holes.
We also have a photo gallery, with captions, that shows our lab and personnel that are working on this project.
Research Activities:
We are investigating some novel effects that arise when very
intense short pulses are tightly confined in microstructured optical
fiber. These drive strong interactions between the photons due to
the high peak intensity and nonlinear medium of the glass fiber.Many
of these novel effects are predictions from our partners in the theoretical quantum optics group.
Some of the things we are working on are:
- Frequency shifting effects of optical horizons
- Hawking radiation from optical horizons
- Spectral effects of Raman-shifting solitons
Images
Below is a photograph of one apparatus, with a few of the laser
beam paths shown.
Below is a series of photographs illustrating the kind of
tightly confining microstructure fiber we use. The first shows,
in the highlighted oval, one end extending from its mount. The
next show a close up photo of such a fiber tip and, a photo of the
fiber face (120 micrometers across), and a zoomed view of the
hexagonal pattern of air holes (24 micrometers wide) around the
solid core (approximately 2 micrometers wide) which carries the
light.
Research Opportunities
There are different ways to get involved in research on this fascinating field of quantum information
science with optical fibres.
- We are looking for students for short-term projects, Master projects and PhD projects.
There is considerable flexibility; we can find a project that suits your individual strengths and interests.
- Most projects will involve experimental work with optical fibres, ultra-short pulse lasers, distinct
quantum effects such as squeezing, entanglement, optical communications, ...
- Postdoctoral assistants should check out the possibility of applying for postdoctoral research stipends.
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