Trapped atoms near nanophotonics form an exciting platform for bottom-up synthesis of strongly interacting quantum matter. The ability to induce tunable long-range atom-atom interactions with photons presents an opportunity to explore many-body physics and quantum optics. Here we implement a configurable optical tweezer array over a planar photonic circuit tailored for cold atom integration and control for trapping and high-fidelity imaging of one or more atoms in an array directly on a photonic structure. Using an optical conveyor belt formed by a moving optical lattice within a tweezer potential, we show that single atoms can be transported from a reservoir into close proximity of a photonic interface, potentially allowing for the synthesis of a defect-free atom-nanophotonic hybrid lattice. Our experimental platform can be integrated with generic planar photonic waveguides and resonators, promising a pathway towards on-chip many-body quantum optics and applications in quantum technology.

We describe the design and fabrication of a scalable atom-light photonic interface based on a silicon nitride microring resonator on a transparent silicon dioxide-nitride multi-layer membrane. This new photonic platform is fully compatible with freespace cold atom laser cooling, stable trapping, and sorting at around 100 nm from the microring surface, permitting the formation of an organized, strongly interacting atom-photonic hybrid lattice. We demonstrate small radius (R ∼16µm) microring and racetrack resonators with a high quality factor Q = 3.2 × 10 5 , projecting a single atom cooperativity parameter of C = 25 and a vacuum Rabi frequency of 2g = 2π × 340 MHz for trapped cesium atoms interacting with a microring resonator mode. We show that the quality factor is currently limited by the surface roughness of the multi-layer membrane, grown using low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) processes. We discuss possible further improvements to a quality factor above Q > 5 × 10 6 , potentially achieving single atom cooperativity parameter of C > 500 for strong single atom-photon coupling. †

No abstract

Recently, a tunable bandwidth white light cavity (WLC) was demonstrated by using an anomalously dispersive intra-cavity medium to adjust a cavity linewidth without reducing the cavity buildup factor [G.S. Pati et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 133601 (2007)]. In this paper, we show theoretically how such a WLC can be used to realize a distortion-free delay system for a data pulse. The system consists of two WLCs placed in series. Once the pulse has passed through them, the fast-light media in both WLCs are deactivated, so that each of these now acts as a very high reflectivity mirror. The data pulse bounces around between these mirrors, undergoing negligible attenuation per pass. The trapped pulse can be released by activating the fast-light medium in either WLC. Numerical simulations show that such a system can far exceed the delay-bandwidth constraint encountered in a typical data buffer employing slow light. We also show that the pulse remains virtually undistorted during the process.