Description
It is a well-established fact that photons can thermalize in an optical microcavity through absorptionand emission by an optical medium. This has led to numerous experiments studying thermalized photon
gasses, among which is the Bose-Einstein condensation of photons. Here, the thermal distribution of the
photons is always governed by the frequency-dependent gain and loss in this system, which in turn is
given by the emission and absorption spectrum of the thermalized optical gain medium. This links the
photon temperature to the temperature of the optical medium.
Studying very low-temperature systems therefore requires a cryostat to cool the optical medium,
which can be experimentally challenging and expensive. A natural question to ask is whether there are
other gain/loss mechanisms that can contribute to the temperature of the photon gas and thereby enable
low-temperature experiments.
By taking inspiration from evaporative cooling in cold atom experiments, we aim to create an effective
low-temperature photon gas by using a finite transverse trapping potential in the optical microcavity. The
high energy modes of the system experience more tunneling losses than the low energy modes, thereby
reducing the mean energy in the system. By fine-tuning this trapping potential, we can emulate the
frequency-dependent loss equivalent to a photon gas at cryogenic temperatures. We report on our recent
progress towards realizing this in an experiment.
| Period | 8 Jul 2024 |
|---|---|
| Event title | 32nd Annual International Laser Physics Workshop, LPHYS 2024 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Conference number | 32 |
| Location | São Carlos, BrazilShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |