Quantum and Nonlinear Optics in Strongly Interacting Atomic Ensembles

Murray, Callum R.; Pohl, Thomas

doi:10.1016/bs.aamop.2016.04.005

Cited by 66 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 197 publications

(304 reference statements)

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“…One way to achieve the large optical nonlinearities [19,20] required for single photon switching is by means of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) [21] with strongly interacting Rydberg states [22] in atomic ensembles (see [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]). The dissipative optical nonlinearities available with this approach [24,26,28,29,31,35,36] provide a novel mechanism for single-photon detection [37], generation [31] and substraction [38,39] as well as classical switching capabilities, as recently demonstrated in [17,18,37,40].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Many-body decoherence dynamics and optimized operation of a single-photon switch

2016

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We develop a theoretical framework to characterize the decoherence dynamics due to multi-photon scattering in an all-optical switch based on Rydberg atom induced nonlinearities. By incorporating the knowledge of this decoherence process into optimal photon storage and retrieval strategies, we establish optimized switching protocols for experimentally relevant conditions, and evaluate the corresponding limits in the achievable fidelities. Based on these results we work out a simplified description that reproduces recent experiments ( Nat. Commun. 7 12480 ) and provides a new interpretation in terms of many-body decoherence involving multiple incident photons and multiple gate excitations forming the switch. Aside from offering insights into the operational capacity of realistic photon switching capabilities, our work provides a complete description of spin wave decoherence in a Rydberg quantum optics setting, and has immediate relevance to a number of further applications employing photon storage in Rydberg media.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Many-body decoherence dynamics and optimized operation of a single-photon switch

2016

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“…We have considered the conversion of at most one microwave photon to an optical photon, for which the interatomic Rydberg-Rydberg interactions are absent. In the case of multiple photons, however, the long-range interatomic interactions will induce strong non-linearities accompanied by the suppression of multiple Rydberg excitations within the blockade volume associated with each photon [39,40]. This can potentially hinder the microwave photon conversion and optical photon collection due to distortion of the temporal and spatial profile of the emitted radiation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microwave to optical conversion with atoms on a superconducting chip

et al. 2019

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We describe a scheme to coherently convert a microwave photon of a superconducting co-planar waveguide resonator to an optical photon emitted into a well-defined temporal and spatial mode. The conversion is realized by a cold atomic ensemble trapped close the surface of the superconducting atom chip, near the antinode of the microwave cavity. The microwave photon couples to a strong Rydberg transition of the atoms that are also driven by a pair of laser fields with appropriate frequencies and wavevectors for an efficient wave-mixing process. With only several thousand atoms in an ensemble of moderate density, the microwave photon can be completely converted into an optical photon emitted with high probability into the phase matched direction and, e.g. fed into a fiber waveguide. This scheme operates in a free-space configuration, without requiring strong coupling of the atoms to a resonant optical cavity.

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“…Here we derive equation (6) of the main text by using an expansion of the Green's function in terms of plane and evanescent waves. The Green's function equation (3) can be written in the angular spectrum representation, i.e.as an integral over k x and k y in Fourier space, as [43] k k k k G r r Q , , i 8…”

Section: Appendix a Green's Function Expansion In Plane And Evanescementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Atomic ensembles constitute an important platform for quantum light-matter interfaces [1], enabling applications from quantum memories [2][3][4][5] and few-photon nonlinear optics [6][7][8][9][10][11] to metrology [12][13][14][15]. In typical experiments, ensembles consist of disordered atomic clouds, with the propagation of light through them modeled phenomenologically by the Maxwell-Bloch equations [16,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays

et al. 2018

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A major application for atomic ensembles consists of a quantum memory for light, in which an optical state can be reversibly converted to a collective atomic excitation on demand. There exists a well-known fundamental bound on the storage error, when the ensemble is describable by a continuous medium governed by the Maxwell–Bloch equations. However, these equations are semi-phenomenological, as they treat emission of the atoms into other directions other than the mode of interest as being independent. On the other hand, in systems such as dense, ordered atomic arrays, atoms interact with each other strongly and spatial interference of the emitted light might be exploited to suppress emission into unwanted directions, thereby enabling improved error bounds. Here, we develop a general formalism that fully accounts for spatial interference, and which finds the maximum storage efficiency for a single photon with known spatial input mode into a collection of atoms with discrete, known positions. As an example, we apply this technique to study a finite two-dimensional square array of atoms. We show that such a system enables a storage error that scales with atom number Na like ∼(logNnormalafalse)2∕Nnormala2, and that, remarkably, an array of just 4 × 4 atoms in principle allows for an error of less than 1%, which is comparable to a disordered ensemble with an optical depth of around 600.

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Quantum and Nonlinear Optics in Strongly Interacting Atomic Ensembles

Cited by 66 publications

References 197 publications

Many-body decoherence dynamics and optimized operation of a single-photon switch

Many-body decoherence dynamics and optimized operation of a single-photon switch

Microwave to optical conversion with atoms on a superconducting chip

Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays

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