Georgiy Tkachenko, Quest for polarization of light guided by optical nanofibers

Speaker: Georgiy Tkachenko, Light-Matter Interactions (Nic Chormaic) Unit

Title:  Quest for polarization of light guided by optical nanofibers

Abstract:  Nanofiber waveguides have numerous applications in near-field optics, sensing, optomechanics, experimental quantum and atomic physics, studies of whispering gallery modes, etc. Despite being such a powerful tool, the nanofiber has a major flaw: it does not maintain polarization of guided light. Exact knowledge of the polarization is important in many studies, especially those dealing with quantum emitters or near-field coupling to microresonators. Until now, there was no technique for determining the polarization states (besides the trivial horizontal and vertical ones) at the waist of a nanofiber waveguide. In this internal seminar, I will present our solution to this problem.

After the seminar (17:00-17:30), join us for discussion with free pizza and soft drinks!