title: Observation of nonlinear optical interactions of ultralow levels of light in a tapered optical nanofiber embedded in a hot rubidium vapor.
abstract: We report the observation of low-light level optical interactions in a tapered optical nanofiber (TNF) embedded in a hot rubidium vapor. The small optical mode area plays a significant role in the optical properties of the hot vapor Rb-TNF system, allowing nonlinear optical interactions with nW level powers even in the presence of transit-time dephasing rates much larger than the intrinsic linewidth. We demonstrate nonlinear absorption and V-type electromagnetically induced transparency with cw powers below 10 nW, comparable to the best results in any Rb-optical waveguide system. The good performance and flexibility of the Rb-TNF system makes it a very promising candidate for ultralow power resonant nonlinear optical applications.
authors.affiliation: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Spillane
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Pati
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Salit
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Beausoleil
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shahriar