Abstract

The model system in Cavity Quantum Electrodynamic (CQED) is a single dipole emitter interacting with a single mode of an optical cavity [1]. In such a coupled system, one has two limit cases: in the strong coupling regime the dynamics between the dipole and the cavity is reversible, giving rise to mode splitting and Rabi oscillations. In the weak coupling regime an irreversible decay of the dipole is observed, due to its interaction with a continuum of states. In this contribution we study a system which provides an analogy between CQED effects (dipole and cavity) and the modal coupling of high-Q modes in an optical microresonator induced by a Rayleigh scatterer. This was accomplished by using a scanning near field optical microscope (SNOM) tip as a controllable Rayleigh scatterer. Our analysis in terms of CQED provides a better understanding of the large mode splitting previously observed in microresonators [2, 3].

© 2007 IEEE