Efficient all-optical switching using slow light within a hollow fiber

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 May 22;102(20):203902. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.203902. Epub 2009 May 18.

Abstract

We demonstrate a fiber-optical switch that is activated at tiny energies corresponding to a few hundred optical photons per pulse. This is achieved by simultaneously confining both photons and a small laser-cooled ensemble of atoms inside the microscopic hollow core of a single-mode photonic-crystal fiber and using quantum optical techniques for generating slow light propagation and large nonlinear interaction between light beams.