Tailoring optical nonlinearities via the Purcell effect

TL;DR

This paper predicts that the Purcell effect can significantly enhance the Kerr nonlinear optical susceptibility, allowing for substantial control and amplification of nonlinear effects in various physical systems.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of tailoring optical nonlinearities via the Purcell effect, specifically demonstrating potential enhancement of Kerr nonlinearity near atomic resonances.

Findings

Kerr nonlinearity can be enhanced by one to two orders of magnitude.

The Purcell effect influences nonlinear susceptibilities even for highly detuned frequencies.

Theoretical predictions apply broadly to various nonlinear optical systems.

Abstract

We predict that the effective nonlinear optical susceptibility can be tailored using the Purcell effect. While this is a general physical principle that applies to a wide variety of nonlinearities, we specifically investigate the Kerr nonlinearity. We show theoretically that using the Purcell effect for frequencies close to an atomic resonance can substantially influence the resultant Kerr nonlinearity for light of all (even highly detuned) frequencies. For example, in realistic physical systems, enhancement of the Kerr coefficient by one to two orders of magnitude could be achieved.