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Article Dans Une Revue Physical Review Letters Année : 2011

Observation of magneto-electric non-reciprocity in molecular nitrogen gas

Résumé

We report the direct observation of the non-reciprocity of the velocity of light, induced in a gas by electric and magnetic fields. This bilinear magneto-electro-optical phenomenon appears in the presence of crossed electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to the light wavevector, as a refractive index difference between two counterpropagating directions. Using a high finesse ring cavity, we have measured this magneto-electric non-reciprocity in molecular Nitrogen at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure; for light polarized parallel to the magnetic field it is $2\eta_{\parallel \;{\mathrm{exp}}}(\mathrm{N_2})= (4.7\pm 1)\times 10^{-23}\;\mbox{m.V}^{-1}\mbox{.T}^{-1}$ for $\lambda =1064\;$nm, in agreement with the expected order of magnitude. Our measurement opens the way to a deeper insight into light-matter interaction, since bilinear magneto-electric effects correspond to a coupling beyond the electric dipole approximation. We were able to measure a magneto-electric non-reciprocity as small as $\Delta n = \left( 5\pm 2 \right) \times 10^{-18}$, which makes its observation in quantum vacuum a conceivable challenge.
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Dates et versions

hal-00551421 , version 1 (03-01-2011)
hal-00551421 , version 2 (11-04-2011)

Identifiants

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Bruno Pelle, Hugo Bitard, Gilles G. Bailly, Cécile Robilliard. Observation of magneto-electric non-reciprocity in molecular nitrogen gas. Physical Review Letters, 2011, 106 (19), 193003 [4 p.]. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.193003⟩. ⟨hal-00551421v2⟩
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