Two-dimensional quasi periodic structures for large-scale light out-coupling with amplitude, phase and polarization control

Abstract

Chip-scale light-atom interactions are vital for the miniaturization of atomic sensing systems, including clocks, magnetometers, gyroscopes and more. Combining as many photonic elements as possible onto a photonic chip greatly reduces size and power consumption, where the critical elements are those interfacing between the 2D circuit and the 3D vapor cell. We introduce a new design method for large scale two-dimensional converter structures, enabling out-coupling of radiation from the photonic chip into the atomic medium. These structures allow light intensity and phase spatial distribution and polarization control, without external light-manipulating elements. Large, 100 × 100 µm2 structures were designed generating low divergence optical beams with high degree of circular polarization. Simulations obtain mean circular polarization contrast of better than 30 dB.