Generating single-mode behavior in fiber-coupled optical cavities

Abstract

We propose to turn two resonant distant cavities effectively into one by coupling them via an optical fiber which is coated with two-level atoms [Franson et al., Phys. Rev. A 70, 062302 (2004)]. The purpose of the atoms is to destructively measure the evanescent electric field of the fiber on a time scale which is long compared to the time it takes a photon to travel from one cavity to the other. Moreover, the boundary conditions imposed by the setup should support a small range of standing waves inside the fiber, including one at the frequency of the cavities. In this way, the fiber provides an additional decay channel for one common cavity field mode but not for the other. If the corresponding decay rate is sufficiently large, this mode decouples effectively from the system dynamics. A single non-local resonator mode is created.