Coherent control of the waveforms of recoilless γ-ray photons

Abstract

The concepts and ideas of coherent, nonlinear and quantum optics deeply penetrate into the range of 10-100 kiloelectronvolt (keV) photon energies, corresponding to soft gamma-ray (hard xray )) radiation. The recent experimental achievements in this frequency range include demonstration of the parametric down-conversion in the Langevin regime [1], cavity electromagnetically induced transparency [2], collective Lamb shift [3], and single-photon revival in the nuclear absorbing sandwiches [4]. Realization of a single photon coherent storage [5] and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage [6] were recently proposed. Still the number of tools for coherent manipulation of gamma-photon -nuclear ensemble interactions remains rather limited. In this work an efficient method to coherently control the waveforms of gamma-photons has been suggested and verified. In particular, the temporal compression of an individual gamma-photon into coherent ultrashort pulse train has been demonstrated. The method is based on the resonant interaction of gamma-photons with an ensemble of nuclei with modulated frequency of the resonant transition. The frequency modulation, achieved by uniform vibration of the resonant absorber due to the Doppler Effect, results in the time-dependence of the resonant absorption and dispersion, which allow shaping of the incident gamma-photons. The developed technique is expected to give a strong ) It is a historic tradition to call a radiation in this range x-ray radiation when it is produced by electron motion and to call it gamma-ray radiation if it is produced by nuclear transitions. 2impetus on emerging fields of coherent and quantum gamma-optics, providing a basis for realization of the gamma-photon -nuclear ensemble interfaces and quantum interference effects at the nuclear gamma-ray transitions.Quantum optics is the field of research dealing with interactions of quanta of electromagnetic radiation with quantum transitions of matter. It provides the basis for new fast growing fields of quantum cryptography, communication, and information. So far the experiments in these fields have been implemented either with microwave or optical photons, interacting with atomic electron transitions, and typically required cryogenic temperatures. The gamma-photons in the range of 10-100keV and the corresponding nuclear quantum transitions are the most suitable for realization of such experiments due to nearly 100% detector efficiency, extremely high Q-factor (~10 12 for 14.4keV transition in 57 Fe) of recoilless nuclear transitions even at room temperature, existence of radioactive materials (representing themselves the natural sources of single gamma-photons) and the cascade scheme of radiative decay of some radioactive sources (Fig.1a), allowing one to study the photon temporal shape via time-delayed coincidence measurement technique [7]. Moreover, the gamma-photons have important potential advantages over the microwave and optical photons for applications in cryptography, communication and information due to extremely...

The Dawn of Quantum Biophotonics

“…The X-ray and gamma ray sources with controllable waveforms were up till now unavailable, and therefore there were no related applications. Now, for the first time, we have an available source of controllable gamma rays [59]. Single ultrashort gamma ray pulses, double pulses, and pulse trains with controllable pulse delays can be produced (.…”

“…7.27 Splitting gamma ray photons into double pulses (left) and multiple pulse trains (right). Adapted from [59] Chapter 7 · The Dawn of Quantum Biophotonics…”

Probing few-excitation eigenstates of interacting atoms on a lattice by observing their collective light emission in the far field

“…Alternatively, in the realm of x-ray quantum optics [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41], for instance the 57 Fe Mössbauer transition is characterized by ω 0 /2π ∼ 10 18 Hz, γ 0 ∼ MHz, a ∼ pm, and U = 0. For these systems, crystalline solid state targets naturally provide ordered arrays of x-ray emitters.…”

“…Nu- * paolo.longo@mpi-hd.mpg.de clear transitions driven, e.g., by synchrotron light [25], are a particularly promising implementation, fueled by a number of recent theoretical [26][27][28][29][30][31][32] and experimental [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] works. Typically, the nuclei are embedded in a solid state target, which may exhibit a crystalline structure.…”

Proposed Entanglement of X-ray Nuclear Polaritons as a Potential Method for Probing Matter at the Subatomic Scale

“…The commissioning of the first x-ray free electron lasers (XFEL) [1][2][3][4][5] and the developments of x-ray optics elements [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] bring into play higher photon frequencies and promote the emerging field of x-ray quantum optics [13]. Apart from a powerful imaging tool, coherent x-ray light may also offer a solution for avoiding the diffraction limit bottleneck for compact photonic devices [14,15], and render possible the coherent control of transitions in ions [16][17][18][19][20] and nuclei [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Furthermore, new x-ray optical elements such as beam splitters [12] and mirrors [9,10] lay the foundation for developing quantum interferometers and controlling the quantum behavior of single x-ray photons.…”