000000924 001__ 924 000000924 005__ 20240523045438.0 000000924 02470 $$a10.6082/M11834MR$$2doi 000000924 037__ $$aTHESIS$$bDissertation 000000924 041__ $$aeng 000000924 245__ $$aDesigning, probing, and stabilizing exotic Fabry-Perot cavities for studying strongly correlated light 000000924 260__ $$bUniversity of Chicago 000000924 269__ $$a2017 000000924 300__ $$a150 000000924 336__ $$aDissertation 000000924 502__ $$bPh.D. 000000924 542__ $$fUniversity of Chicago dissertations are covered by copyright. 000000924 590__ $$aSynthetic materials made of engineered quasiparticles are a powerful platform for studying manybody physics and strongly correlated systems due to their bottom-up approach to Hamiltonian modeling. Photonic quasiparticles called polaritons are particularly appealing since they inherit fast dynamics from light and strong interaction from matter. This thesis describes the experimental demonstration of cavity Rydberg polaritons, which are composite particles arising from the hybridization of an optical cavity with Rydberg EIT, as well as the tools for probing and stabilizing the cavity. ,We first describe the design, construction, and testing of a four-mirror Fabry-Perot cavity, whose small waist size on the order of 10 microns is comparable to the Rydberg blockade radius. By achieving strong coupling between the cavity photon and an atomic ensemble undergoing electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), we observe the emergence of the dark-state polariton and characterize its single-body properties as well as the single-quantum nonlinearity.,We then describe the implementation of a holographic spatial light modulator for exciting different transverse modes of the cavity, an essential tool for studying polariton-polariton scattering. For compensating optical aberrations, we employ a digital micromirror device (DMD), combining beam shaping with adaptive optics to produce diffraction-limited light. We quantitatively measure the purity of the DMD-produced Hermite-Gauss modes and confirm up to 99.2% efficiency. One application of the technique is to create Laguerre-Gauss modes, which have been used to probe synthetic Landau levels for photons in a twisted, nonplanar cavity.,Finally, we describe the implementation of an FPGA-based FIR filter for stabilizing the cavity. We digitally cancel the acoustical resonances of the feedback-controlled mechanical system, thereby demonstrating an order-of-magnitude enhancement in the feedback bandwidth from 200 Hz to more than 2 kHz. Harnessing the massive processing power of a state-of-the-art FPGA, we present a novel, low-latency digital architecture for loop-shaping, with applications in atomic physics and beyond. 000000924 653__ $$abeam shaping 000000924 653__ $$acavity Rydberg polariton 000000924 653__ $$aFabry-Perot cavity 000000924 653__ $$aFPGA FIR filter 000000924 653__ $$aholographic spatial light modulator 000000924 653__ $$aloop shaping 000000924 690__ $$aPhysical Sciences Division 000000924 691__ $$aPhysics 000000924 7001_ $$aRyou, Albert$$uUniversity of Chicago 000000924 72012 $$aJonathan Simon 000000924 8564_ $$973d11aef-e9a6-446e-a7b6-568f128bb712$$ePublic$$s22765493$$uhttps://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/924/files/Ryou_uchicago_0330D_13959.pdf 000000924 902__ $$ahttp://hdl.handle.net/11417/685 000000924 903__ $$aMade available in DSpace on 2017-10-20T16:58:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ryou_uchicago_0330D_13959.pdf: 22765493 bytes, checksum: 990303c1096dc09713eeef856251a626 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 000000924 909CO $$ooai:knowledge.uchicago.edu:924$$pDissertations$$pGLOBAL_SET$$qthesis_test 000000924 945__ $$aUChicago Dissertations 000000924 945__ $$aPhysical Sciences Division - Dissertations 000000924 946__ $$aUChicago Dissertations 000000924 946__ $$aPhysical Sciences Division 000000924 980__ $$aMIG 000000924 983__ $$aDissertation