Strong Er/sup 3+/-photon coupling

Summary form only given. Light-matter interaction has been the subject of numerous investigations both in atomic and semiconductor physics. Experimentally, strong light-matter coupling regime can be achieved in a cavity. The photon is confined and in resonance with the electronic transition of the exciton or atom embedded in the cavity. As a result, photons emitted from the cavity (due to excitonic or atomic transition) will be reabsorbed and re-emitted a number of times before exiting the cavity. Direct spectroscopic measurements show two resonances split by the so-called vacuum Rabi splitting (VRS). This interaction can be modeled by a semiclassical model describing the electronic transition and the photon as two coupled Lorentzian oscillators. When in resonance their frequency is spit by the so-called vacuum Rabi splitting. In the present work we report for the first time to our knowledge, VRS of atoms in a monolithic Fabry-Perot cavity. The photon is confined in an Er/sub 2/O/sub 3/ layer embedded in a monolithic Si-SiO/sub 2/ Fabry-Perot cavity.