“If we take a light with a power of one watt, similar to the light of a mobile phone flash, and let it rotate between these mirrors, the light power will be amplified to about one million watts, equal to the electricity consumption of a large neighbourhood in Haifa, Israel,” said Carmon.” We can use the high light output, for example, to stimulate various light-matter interactions in the region between the mirrors. “
This happens when a photon of light in the resonator makes ten million circular trips as it bounces around inside, but when matter “registers” each passage of the photon as a particle of light, it reacts as if that particle were 10 million particles passing through once.
The resonator used by Kher-Alden consists of a highly transparent drop of oil about a quarter the thickness of a human hair, held in the air by light. In this way, the drop is held without any material support, which eliminates distortions in the sphere. The technique is known as “optical forceps”.
“This ingenious optical invention, the optical clamp, is widely used in life sciences, chemistry, micro-flux devices and more, and it is precisely optical researchers who use it little – much like the shoemaker walking barefoot,” said Carmon .
“In this study, we show that optical tweezers have enormous potential in the field of optical engineering. It is possible, for example, to construct an optical circuit using several optical clamps that hold many resonators and control the position of the resonators and their shape as required. “
The microscopic proportions of the droplet also increase the integrity of the sphere, because on this scale gravity has a minimal effect on the surface tension of the droplet. And while the droplet is held in a laser beam, it receives light from another fibre, which also receives it after passing through the resonator.
By taking readings of the light in the fibre, the researchers were able to understand what was happening inside the droplet. The results show a world record for light amplification: 10,000,000 rotations that pass through a cross-section of about one square micron, increasing the light 10 million times.
Source: Alliance Mag
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