Single photons in nonlinear photonic crystals and studies on electromagnetic knots.

摘要

We explore the possibility of generating and manipulating single photon states through all-optical chi(2) nonlinear interactions in photonic crystals. In particular two schemes are presented: one for the generation of entangled-photon pairs by parametric down-conversion in one-dimensional nonlinear photonic crystals (Bragg stacks), and one for the observation of strong coupling between single photons in semiconductor micro-cavities. Both schemes aim to combine the exceptionally high value of the chi(2) nonlinearity of GaAs, with the recently-developed technology for the fabrication of nanometer-scale structures that geometrically influence the properties of light. In a second, unrelated, part of the thesis we describe some solutions to Maxwell's equations that have interesting topological properties. This is part of a more speculative project aimed at creating the solutions in the lab.