Optical analogue of the polaron: Dressed photon in a nonlinear Fabry-Pérot cavity

E-ISSN： 1286-4854|101|1|14003-14003

ISSN： 0295-5075

Source： EPL (EUROPHYSICS LETTERS), Vol.101, Iss.1, 2013-01, pp. : 14003-14003

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Abstract

The photon polaron in a two-dimensional optical micro-cavity is investigated within the framework of quantum statistical mechanics. Our experimental set-up is based on a planar Fabry-Pérot cavity filled with a nonlinear non-polar crystal. The Fabry-Pérot cavity provides a chemical potential and an effective mass for a photon, making the system formally equivalent to a two-dimensional gas of number-conserving, massive bosons. A photon polaron is a photon dressed with a cloud of virtual transverse optical phonons, namely, the dressed photon. One of the most important properties of the photon polaron is an increased inert mass. Because of the effect of photon polarons, we find that the photon-photon interaction is enhanced greatly. The photon polaron is a quantum effect of cavity nonlinear optics but its increased inert mass is a classical property.