Coupling of ultrathin tapered fibers with high-Q microsphere resonators at cryogenic temperatures and observation of phase-shift transition from undercoupling to overcoupling.

We cooled ultrathin tapered fibers to cryogenic temperatures and controllably coupled them with high-Q microsphere resonators at a wavelength close to the optical transition of diamond nitrogen vacancy centers. The 310-nm-diameter tapered fibers were stably nanopositioned close to the microspheres with a positioning stability of approximately 10 nm over a temperature range of 7-28 K. A cavity-induced phase shift was observed in this temperature range, demonstrating a discrete transition from undercoupling to overcoupling.

Highly efficient coupling of photons from nanoemitters into single-mode optical fibers.

Highly efficient coupling of photons from nanoemitters into single-mode optical fibers is demonstrated using tapered fibers. A percentage (7.4 ± 1.

Optical transmittance degradation in tapered fibers.

We investigated the cause of optical transmittance degradation in tapered fibers. Degradation commences immediately after fabrication and it eventually reduces the transmittance to almost zero. It is a major problem that limits applications of tapered fibers.

Phase shift spectra of a fiber-microsphere system at the single photon level.

We succeeded in measuring phase shift spectra of a microsphere cavity coupled with a tapered fiber using a weak coherent probe light at the single photon level. We utilized a tapered fiber with almost no depolarization and constructed a very stable phase shift measurement scheme based on polarization analysis using photon counting. Using a very weak probe light (n = 0.

Fiber-microsphere system at cryogenic temperatures toward cavity QED using diamond NV centers.

The coupling of a microsphere resonator to a tapered fiber was demonstrated at cryogenic temperatures (8 - 13 K) and investigated with a probe laser light whose frequency around the zero phonon line of nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond (638 nm). For this purpose, a liquid-helium-flow cryostat with a large sample chamber is developed and a resonance dip with a Q of 2 x 10(6) is observed. The resonance frequency and the coupling condition are found to be stable for a period of one hour.