Fundamentals and applications of confined light interacting with nano-scale matter

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Light can be tightly confined into very small spaces using microscopic structures called optical microcavities. When a quantum system (such as an atom) is located inside a microcavity, its interaction with the confined light causes its light-emitting properties to change. The study of this kind of system is known as Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics (CQED). Our research is in solid-state CQED, where our microcavities are made of solid materials and quantum dots, systems composed of tens of thousands of atoms that still behave as "artificial atoms", play the part of the original atoms. Solid-state CQED is very exciting because new phenomena emerge that differentiate it from classic atom-based CQED, and because it holds the key to better light-based technology: better and faster lasers, faster optical switches, more sensitive sensors, and even quantum information processors among others. We will use a combination of optical spectroscopy with scanning tapered optical fibres, which will give us very high spatial and spectral resolution, to probe deeper into the frontiers of solid-state CQED. Some of the ideas we will explore are: (1) Implementing a microcavity with several quantum dots which can be individually controlled, a potential quantum information processor. (2) Finding out the effects of the microcavity mechanical vibrations on the light emission from the quantum dots. (3) Understanding and tailoring the interplay between the light inside the cavity, the quantum dots, and the mechanical vibrations. Our research program contributes to the training of graduate students and postdocs. While working on achieving these goals, these young researchers in training will acquire specialized knowledge that is in high demand by industrial and academic employers.