Ground-State Squeezing and Chiral Photonic Crystal Cavities in Ultrastrong Light-Matter Coupling

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dc.contributor.advisorKono, Junichiroen_US
dc.creatorMuralidhar Kulkarni, Kiranen_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-30T21:08:12Zen_US
dc.date.available2025-05-30T21:08:12Zen_US
dc.date.created2025-05en_US
dc.date.issued2025-04-25en_US
dc.date.submittedMay 2025en_US
dc.date.updated2025-05-30T21:08:12Zen_US
dc.description.abstractThis thesis investigates quantum light–matter interactions in photonic-crystal cavities, focusing on two complementary projects. The first project develops a theoretical framework for Landau polaritons in terahertz cavities by computing ground-state current-current correlations in a two-dimensional electron gas under ultrastrong coupling (USC). We show that these correlations reveal an intrinsically squeezed ground state—an effect absent in conventional linear spectroscopy. The second project designs, fabricates, and characterizes a one-dimensional chiral photonic-crystal cavity that breaks time-reversal symmetry. The cavity consists of a silicon layer sandwiched between lightly doped indium antimonide (InSb) wafers, exploiting InSb’s low carrier mass and magnetoplasma nonreciprocity to support a single circularly polarized mode at 0.67 THz under a 0.3 T magnetic field, achieving a quality factor above 200. Systematic experiments—varying temperature, magnetic field, and polarization—together with simulations, confirm the cavity’s nonreciprocal behavior and robust mode confinement. Altogether, these studies deepen our understanding of USC-induced quantum effects in photonic cavities and introduce a versatile platform that enables precise manipulation of material properties by breaking key symmetries.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/118530en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subjectQuantum Squeezingen_US
dc.subjectLandau Polaritonsen_US
dc.subjectChiral Photonic Crystal Cavityen_US
dc.subjectTime-Reversal Symmetry Breakingen_US
dc.titleGround-State Squeezing and Chiral Photonic Crystal Cavities in Ultrastrong Light-Matter Couplingen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentApplied Physicsen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineApplied Physics/Physics, Applied Physics/Physicsen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen_US
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