Design of photonic crystal microcavities for cavity QED

Abstract

We discuss the optimization of optical microcavity designs based on two-dimensional photonic crystals for the purpose of strong coupling between the cavity field and a single neutral atom trapped within a hole. We present numerical predictions for the quality factors and mode volumes of localized defect modes as a function of geometric parameters, and discuss some experimental challenges related to the coupling of a defect cavity to gas-phase atoms.