Direct observation of Landau-Zener tunneling in a curved optical waveguide coupler

Journal Article · Fri May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.79.055802· OSTI ID:21313156

Dreisow, F; Szameit, A; Heinrich, M ^[1]; Nolte, S; Tuennermann, A ^[1]; Ornigotti, M; Longhi, S ^[2]

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1. Institute of Applied Physics, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena (Germany)
2. Dipartimento di Fisica and Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L da Vinci 32, I-20133 Milan (Italy)

An electromagnetic realization of Landau-Zener (LZ) tunneling is experimentally demonstrated in femtosecond-laser written waveguide couplers with a cubically bent axis. Quantitative measurements of light evolution inside the coupler, based on fluorescence imaging, enable to trace the detailed dynamics of the LZ process. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical LZ model for linear crossing of energy levels with constant coupling of finite duration.

• OSTI ID: 21313156
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 79, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.79.055802; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
COUPLING
ENERGY LEVELS
FLUORESCENCE
LASERS
TUNNEL EFFECT
VELOCITY
VISIBLE RADIATION
WAVEGUIDES