" Microphotonics for Atomic and Solid-State Cavity QED"

The scaling of optoelectronic devices to smaller and smaller spatial dimensions results, at least theoretically, in an increased device density and reduced optical system size.  Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, there is also a corresponding increase in the strength of a light-matter interactions with reduced size scale, an effect which can dramatically alter the power, speed and efficency of an optical device.  Geometry below or at the wavelength scale also plays an intricate role in optics, as demonstrated recently in the work on engineered photonic crystals and so-called "left-handed" materials.  In this talk I will discuss the application of geometry and scale in optical structures to several different areas of our own current research at Caltech: integrated atom-photon chips and monolithic semiconductor quantum dot-microavity systems for "water scale" cavity QED.