1 Solid Light: trapping photons in photonic crystals Andrew D. Greentree School of Physics University of Melbourne July Lecture in Physics July

2 The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust Wikipedia

3 Outline Phase transitions  Type I and Type II Quantum mechanics  Interference and measurement  The cat Photonics  Hopping  Feathers  Bandgap materials Solid light A seemingly intractable problem and an outline of its solution

4 Phase transitions (Type I) Pressure [atm] Temperature [°C] Wikipedia

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6 Quantum interference Source Double SlitsDetector Screen ? Slit 1 Slit 2 Waves Particles Slit 1 Slit 2

7 Quantum interference

8 Quantum Interference 2 BEC Interference C 60 C 70

9 Galaxy Cluster Abell 2218's "Gravitational Lens"

10 Gravitational Lensing Einstein Ring Gravitational Lens (SDSS J )

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12 Black-hole interferometer

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14 Photonic crystals Akahane et al., Nature 425, 944 (2003) Wikipedia

15 Peacock feathers – natural photonic crystals S. Smyth, National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (2007)

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17 Schrödinger’s Cat Wikipedia

18 Superpositions in space

19 Random walks - classical

20 Random walks - quantum

21 Towards solid light – two noninteracting cats

22 Towards solid light – two interacting cats

23 Hubbard model Greiner et al., Nature 415, 39 (2002)

24 Solid-light AG, Tahan, Cole, Hollenberg, Nat. Phys. 2, 856 (2006)

25 The phase transition

26 An unsolved problem Wikipedia

27 Acknowledgements The team for tonight  Nick Nicola  Jude Prezens  Wayne Powrie  Stephen Marshall  Peter Degorski Solid light  Jared Cole  Charles Tahan  Mel Makin  James Quach  Lloyd Hollenberg No cats were harmed in the making of this presentation

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29 Polarisation of light