Abstract
Nanofibre-based optical cavities are particularly useful for quantum optics applications, such as the development of integrated single-photon sources, and for studying fundamental light–matter interactions in cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED). Although several techniques have been used to produce such cavities, focussed ion beam (FIB) milling is becoming popular; it can be used for the fabrication of complex structures directly in the nanofibre. However, it is challenging to mill insulating materials with highly curved geometries and large aspect ratios, such as silica nanofibres, due to charge accumulation in the material. In this article, we highlight the main features of nanofibres and briefly review cQED with nanofibre-based optical cavities. An overview of the milling process is given with a summary of different FIB milled devices and their applications. Finally, we present our technique to produce nanofibre cavities by FIB milling. To overcome the aforementioned challenges, we present a specially designed base plate with an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated Si substrate and outline our procedure, which improves stability during milling and increases repeatability.
Highlights
Reducing the diameter of optical fibres to the same order of magnitude as the wavelength of fibre-guided light can lead to some unique properties
We present a brief review of techniques used for focussed ion beam (FIB) milling of nanofibre-based cavities and the progress that has been achieved to date
We described Fabry–Perót type optical cavities in which mirrors are fabricated directly on the waist of a tapered optical fibre
Summary
Reducing the diameter of optical fibres to the same order of magnitude as the wavelength of fibre-guided light can lead to some unique properties. One method that is proving successful is the use of FIB milling to fabricate Bragg mirrors for fibre-based optical cavities [40, 51,52,53]. This technique uses a highly focussed ion beam to cut patterns into the fibre with very high resolution. We present a brief review of techniques used for FIB milling of nanofibre-based cavities and the progress that has been achieved to date. 4, we present our technique to fabricate nanofibre-based optical cavities using FIB milling, without the need to coat the fibre with a conductive layer.
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