Recently, there has been growing interest in the miniaturization and integration of atomic-based quantum technologies. In addition to the obvious advantages brought by such integration in facilitating mass production, reducing the footprint, and reducing the cost, the flexibility offered by on-chip integration enables the development of new concepts and capabilities. In particular, recent advanced techniques based on computer-assisted optimization algorithms enable the development of newly engineered photonic structures with unconventional functionalities. Taking this concept further, we hereby demonstrate the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of an integrated nanophotonic-atomic chip magnetometer based on alkali vapor with a micrometer-scale spatial resolution and a magnetic sensitivity of 700 pT/√Hz. The presented platform paves the way for future applications using integrated photonic–atomic chips, including high-spatial-resolution magnetometry, near-field vectorial imaging, magnetically induced switching, and optical isolation.
Non-Hermitian systems have recently attracted significant attention in photonics. One of the hallmarks of these systems is the possibility of realizing asymmetric mode switching and omni-polarizer action through the dynamic encirclement of exceptional points (EP). Here, we offer a new perspective on the operating principle of these devices, and we theoretically show that asymmetric mode switching can be easily realized -with the same performance and limitationsusing simple configurations that emulate the physics involved in encircling EP's without the complexity of actual encirclement schemes. The proposed concept of "encirclement emulators" may allow a better assessment of practical applications of non-Hermitian photonics.
Optical magnetometers based on alkali vapors, such as rubidium, are among the most sensitive technologies for detecting and characterizing magnetic fields. Following the recent effort in miniaturizing atomic-based quantum technologies, the last years were marked by a growing interest in developing integrated quantum nanophotonic circuits for a vast range of applications. Motivated by the attractiveness of such chip-scale integration, we present and experimentally demonstrate an integrated magnetic sensing platform, based on a nanophotonic-chip interfaced to a microfabricated alkali vapor cell. Magnetically induced circular dichroism in rubidium vapor is measured using a planar structure that spatially resolves the handedness of incoming photons depending on their spin. The presented approach paves the way toward further integration of highly sensitive magnetometers, with potential for future applications, such as in high-spatial resolution magnetic vectorial imaging.
Lasers precisely stabilized to known transitions between energy levels in simple, well‐isolated quantum systems such as atoms and molecules are essential for a plethora of applications in metrology and optical communications. The implementation of such spectroscopic systems in a chip‐scale format would allow to reduce cost dramatically and would open up new opportunities in both photonically integrated platforms and free‐space applications such as lidar. Here the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of a molecular cladded waveguide platform based on the integration of serpentine nanoscale photonic waveguides with a miniaturized acetylene chamber is presented. The goal of this platform is to enable cost‐effective, miniaturized, and low power optical frequency references in the telecommunications C band. Finally, this platform is used to stabilize a 1.5 µm laser with a precision better than 400 kHz at 34 s. The molecular cladded waveguide platform introduced here could be integrated with components such as on‐chip modulators, detectors, and other devices to form a complete on‐chip laser stabilization system.
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