Light-vapor interactions on a chip

The convergence of nanophotonics and atomic physics has birthed a powerful paradigm for controlling light-matter interactions at the extreme scale. While typical hot vapor physics relies on macroscopic bulky glass cells, we demonstrate that integrating alkali hot vapors (such as Rubidium) into nanophotonic structures enables unprecedented optical control. This lecture explores physics and applications of "vapor-on-a-chip" systems. We start by presenting our atomic cladded waveguide (ACWG), where a solid core waveguide made of silicon nitride is surrounded by hot vapor. We discuss nonlinear effects, coherence and broadening mechanisms and demonstrate novel approaches for overcoming broadening effects. We show the usefulness of our system for applications such as electromagnetic induced transparency, nonreciprocity, frequency references and more. We also demonstrate cavity QED and cooperativity in hot vapors coupled to microcavities. Finally, we discuss new approaches for the manufacturing of wafer scale devices.