Observation of strong coupling between one atom and a monolithic microresonator

Over the past decade, strong interactions of light and matter at the single-photon level have enabled a wide set of scientific advances in quantum optics and quantum information science. This work has been performed principally within the setting of cavity quantum electrodynamics with diverse physical systems, including single atoms in Fabry-Perot resonators, quantum dots coupled to micropillars and photonic bandgap cavities and Cooper pairs interacting with superconducting resonators. Experiments with single, localized atoms have been at the forefront of these advances with the use of optical resonators in high-finesse Fabry-Perot configurations. As a result of the extreme technical challenges involved in further improving the multilayer dielectric mirror coatings of these resonators and in scaling to large numbers of devices, there has been increased interest in the development of alternative microcavity systems. Here we show strong coupling between individual caesium atoms and the fields of a high-quality toroidal microresonator. From observations of transit events for single atoms falling through the resonator's evanescent field, we determine the coherent coupling rate for interactions near the surface of the resonator. We develop a theoretical model to quantify our observations, demonstrating that strong coupling is achieved, with the rate of coherent coupling exceeding the dissipative rates of the atom and the cavity. Our work opens the way for investigations of optical processes with single atoms and photons in lithographically fabricated microresonators. Applications include the implementation of quantum networks, scalable quantum logic with photons, and quantum information processing on atom chips.     

Strong coupling of a single photon to a superconducting qubit using circuit quantum electrodynamics

The interaction of matter and light is one of the fundamental processes occurring in nature, and its most elementary form is realized when a single atom interacts with a single photon. Reaching this regime has been a major focus of research in atomic physics and quantum optics for several decades and has generated the field of cavity quantum electrodynamics. Here we perform an experiment in which a superconducting two-level system, playing the role of an artificial atom, is coupled to an on-chip cavity consisting of a superconducting transmission line resonator. We show that the strong coupling regime can be attained in a solid-state system, and we experimentally observe the coherent interaction of a superconducting two-level system with a single microwave photon. The concept of circuit quantum electrodynamics opens many new possibilities for studying the strong interaction of light and matter. This system can also be exploited for quantum information processing and quantum communication and may lead to new approaches for single photon generation and detection.     

Linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy of a strongly coupled microdisk-quantum dot system

Cavity quantum electrodynamics, the study of coherent quantum interactions between the electromagnetic field and matter inside a resonator, has received attention as both a test bed for ideas in quantum mechanics and a building block for applications in the field of quantum information processing. The canonical experimental system studied in the optical domain is a single alkali atom coupled to a high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity. Progress made in this system has recently been complemented by research involving trapped ions, chip-based microtoroid cavities, integrated microcavity-atom-chips, nanocrystalline quantum dots coupled to microsphere cavities, and semiconductor quantum dots embedded in micropillars, photonic crystals and microdisks. The last system has been of particular interest owing to its relative simplicity and scalability. Here we use a fibre taper waveguide to perform direct optical spectroscopy of a system consisting of a quantum dot embedded in a microdisk. In contrast to earlier work with semiconductor systems, which has focused on photoluminescence measurements, we excite the system through the photonic (light) channel rather than the excitonic (matter) channel. Strong coupling, the regime of coherent quantum interactions, is demonstrated through observation of vacuum Rabi splitting in the transmitted and reflected signals from the cavity. The fibre coupling method also allows us to examine the system's steady-state nonlinear properties, where we see a saturation of the cavity-quantum dot response for less than one intracavity photon. The excitation of the cavity-quantum dot system through a fibre optic waveguide is central to applications such as high-efficiency single photon sources, and to more fundamental studies of the quantum character of the system.     

Experimental realization of a one-atom laser in the regime of strong coupling

Conventional lasers (from table-top systems to microscopic devices) typically operate in the so-called weak-coupling regime, involving large numbers of atoms and photons; individual quanta have a negligible impact on the system dynamics. However, this is no longer the case when the system approaches the regime of strong coupling for which the number of atoms and photons can become quite small. Indeed, the lasing properties of a single atom in a resonant cavity have been extensively investigated theoretically. Here we report the experimental realization of a one-atom laser operated in the regime of strong coupling. We exploit recent advances in cavity quantum electrodynamics that allow one atom to be isolated in an optical cavity in a regime for which one photon is sufficient to saturate the atomic transition. The observed characteristics of the atom-cavity system are qualitatively different from those of the familiar many-atom case. Specifically, our measurements of the intracavity photon number versus pump intensity indicate that there is no threshold for lasing, and we infer that the output flux from the cavity mode exceeds that from atomic fluorescence by more than tenfold. Observations of the second-order intensity correlation function demonstrate that our one-atom laser generates manifestly quantum (nonclassical) light, typified by photon anti-bunching and sub-poissonian photon statistics.     

Controlling cavity reflectivity with a single quantum dot

Solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems offer a robust and scalable platform for quantum optics experiments and the development of quantum information processing devices. In particular, systems based on photonic crystal nanocavities and semiconductor quantum dots have seen rapid progress. Recent experiments have allowed the observation of weak and strong coupling regimes of interaction between the photonic crystal cavity and a single quantum dot in photoluminescence. In the weak coupling regime, the quantum dot radiative lifetime is modified; in the strong coupling regime, the coupled quantum dot also modifies the cavity spectrum. Several proposals for scalable quantum information networks and quantum computation rely on direct probing of the cavity-quantum dot coupling, by means of resonant light scattering from strongly or weakly coupled quantum dots. Such experiments have recently been performed in atomic systems and superconducting circuit QED systems, but not in solid-state quantum dot-cavity QED systems. Here we present experimental evidence that this interaction can be probed in solid-state systems, and show that, as expected from theory, the quantum dot strongly modifies the cavity transmission and reflection spectra. We show that when the quantum dot is coupled to the cavity, photons that are resonant with its transition are prohibited from entering the cavity. We observe this effect as the quantum dot is tuned through the cavity and the coupling strength between them changes. At high intensity of the probe beam, we observe rapid saturation of the transmission dip. These measurements provide both a method for probing the cavity-quantum dot system and a step towards the realization of quantum devices based on coherent light scattering and large optical nonlinearities from quantum dots in photonic crystal cavities.     

Cavity QED with a Bose-Einstein condensate

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) describes the coherent interaction between matter and an electromagnetic field confined within a resonator structure, and is providing a useful platform for developing concepts in quantum information processing. By using high-quality resonators, a strong coupling regime can be reached experimentally in which atoms coherently exchange a photon with a single light-field mode many times before dissipation sets in. This has led to fundamental studies with both microwave and optical resonators. To meet the challenges posed by quantum state engineering and quantum information processing, recent experiments have focused on laser cooling and trapping of atoms inside an optical cavity. However, the tremendous degree of control over atomic gases achieved with Bose-Einstein condensation has so far not been used for cavity QED. Here we achieve the strong coupling of a Bose-Einstein condensate to the quantized field of an ultrahigh-finesse optical cavity and present a measurement of its eigenenergy spectrum. This is a conceptually new regime of cavity QED, in which all atoms occupy a single mode of a matter-wave field and couple identically to the light field, sharing a single excitation. This opens possibilities ranging from quantum communication to a wealth of new phenomena that can be expected in the many-body physics of quantum gases with cavity-mediated interactions.     

Quantum nature of a strongly coupled single quantum dot-cavity system

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) studies the interaction between a quantum emitter and a single radiation-field mode. When an atom is strongly coupled to a cavity mode, it is possible to realize important quantum information processing tasks, such as controlled coherent coupling and entanglement of distinguishable quantum systems. Realizing these tasks in the solid state is clearly desirable, and coupling semiconductor self-assembled quantum dots to monolithic optical cavities is a promising route to this end. However, validating the efficacy of quantum dots in quantum information applications requires confirmation of the quantum nature of the quantum-dot-cavity system in the strong-coupling regime. Here we find such confirmation by observing quantum correlations in photoluminescence from a photonic crystal nanocavity interacting with one, and only one, quantum dot located precisely at the cavity electric field maximum. When off-resonance, photon emission from the cavity mode and quantum-dot excitons is anticorrelated at the level of single quanta, proving that the mode is driven solely by the quantum dot despite an energy mismatch between cavity and excitons. When tuned to resonance, the exciton and cavity enter the strong-coupling regime of cavity QED and the quantum-dot exciton lifetime reduces by a factor of 145. The generated photon stream becomes antibunched, proving that the strongly coupled exciton/photon system is in the quantum regime. Our observations unequivocally show that quantum information tasks are achievable in solid-state cavity QED.     

Strong coupling in a single quantum dot-semiconductor microcavity system

Cavity quantum electrodynamics, a central research field in optics and solid-state physics, addresses properties of atom-like emitters in cavities and can be divided into a weak and a strong coupling regime. For weak coupling, the spontaneous emission can be enhanced or reduced compared with its vacuum level by tuning discrete cavity modes in and out of resonance with the emitter. However, the most striking change of emission properties occurs when the conditions for strong coupling are fulfilled. In this case there is a change from the usual irreversible spontaneous emission to a reversible exchange of energy between the emitter and the cavity mode. This coherent coupling may provide a basis for future applications in quantum information processing or schemes for coherent control. Until now, strong coupling of individual two-level systems has been observed only for atoms in large cavities. Here we report the observation of strong coupling of a single two-level solid-state system with a photon, as realized by a single quantum dot in a semiconductor microcavity. The strong coupling is manifest in photoluminescence data that display anti-crossings between the quantum dot exciton and cavity-mode dispersion relations, characterized by a vacuum Rabi splitting of about 140 microeV.     

Continuous generation of single photons with controlled waveform in an ion-trap cavity system

The controlled production of single photons is of fundamental and practical interest; they represent the lowest excited quantum states of the radiation field, and have applications in quantum cryptography and quantum information processing. Common approaches use the fluorescence of single ions, single molecules, colour centres and semiconductor quantum dots. However, the lack of control over such irreversible emission processes precludes the use of these sources in applications (such as quantum networks) that require coherent exchange of quantum states between atoms and photons. The necessary control may be achieved in principle in cavity quantum electrodynamics. Although this approach has been used for the production of single photons from atoms, such experiments are compromised by limited trapping times, fluctuating atom-field coupling and multi-atom effects. Here we demonstrate a single-photon source based on a strongly localized single ion in an optical cavity. The ion is optimally coupled to a well-defined field mode, resulting in the generation of single-photon pulses with precisely defined shape and timing. We have confirmed the suppression of two-photon events up to the limit imposed by fluctuations in the rate of detector dark counts. The stream of emitted photons is uninterrupted over the storage time of the ion, as demonstrated by a measurement of photon correlations over 90 min.     

耗散原子-腔场复合系统中线性熵的演化特性

应用全量子理论研究了两个纠缠的耗散腔场与穿过其中一个腔场的二能级Rydberg原予相互作用过程中原子的线性熵、两个腔场的线性熵及原子-腔场复合系统的线性熵的演化特性.通过数值计算,讨论了共振情况下耗散常数和原子-光场相互作用耦合强度对原子的线性熵、两个腔场的线性熵及原子-腔场复合系统的线性熵演化特性的影响.结果表明:原子的线性熵、两个腔场的线性熵、原子-腔场复合系统的线性熵的演化都较强地依赖于原子-光场相互作用耦合强度和耗散常数.耗散常数和原子-光场相互作用强度不仅影响量子场熵演化的振荡性,而且影响线性场熵演化的周期性.     

弱相干场耦合腔系统中原子偶极压缩

考虑将3个全同的二能级原子分别囚禁在3个耦合腔中,并且腔场处于弱相干态的情况。利用数值计算方法研究了原子的偶极压缩效应,讨论了腔场间的耦合系数和腔场的强度对原子偶极压缩的影响。研究结果表明:随腔场间耦合增强,压缩效应减弱。另一方面,随弱相干光场强度的加强,原子的偶极压缩效应增强。     

Climbing the Jaynes-Cummings ladder and observing its nonlinearity in a cavity QED system

The field of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), traditionally studied in atomic systems, has gained new momentum by recent reports of quantum optical experiments with solid-state semiconducting and superconducting systems. In cavity QED, the observation of the vacuum Rabi mode splitting is used to investigate the nature of matter-light interaction at a quantum-mechanical level. However, this effect can, at least in principle, be explained classically as the normal mode splitting of two coupled linear oscillators. It has been suggested that an observation of the scaling of the resonant atom-photon coupling strength in the Jaynes-Cummings energy ladder with the square root of photon number n is sufficient to prove that the system is quantum mechanical in nature. Here we report a direct spectroscopic observation of this characteristic quantum nonlinearity. Measuring the photonic degree of freedom of the coupled system, our measurements provide unambiguous spectroscopic evidence for the quantum nature of the resonant atom-field interaction in cavity QED. We explore atom-photon superposition states involving up to two photons, using a spectroscopic pump and probe technique. The experiments have been performed in a circuit QED set-up, in which very strong coupling is realized by the large dipole coupling strength and the long coherence time of a superconducting qubit embedded in a high-quality on-chip microwave cavity. Circuit QED systems also provide a natural quantum interface between flying qubits (photons) and stationary qubits for applications in quantum information processing and communication.     

Vacuum Rabi splitting with a single quantum dot in a photonic crystal nanocavity

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems allow the study of a variety of fundamental quantum-optics phenomena, such as entanglement, quantum decoherence and the quantum-classical boundary. Such systems also provide test beds for quantum information science. Nearly all strongly coupled cavity QED experiments have used a single atom in a high-quality-factor (high-Q) cavity. Here we report the experimental realization of a strongly coupled system in the solid state: a single quantum dot embedded in the spacer of a nanocavity, showing vacuum-field Rabi splitting exceeding the decoherence linewidths of both the nanocavity and the quantum dot. This requires a small-volume cavity and an atomic-like two-level system. The photonic crystal slab nanocavity--which traps photons when a defect is introduced inside the two-dimensional photonic bandgap by leaving out one or more holes--has both high Q and small modal volume V, as required for strong light-matter interactions. The quantum dot has two discrete energy levels with a transition dipole moment much larger than that of an atom, and it is fixed in the nanocavity during growth.     

Entanglement of single-atom quantum bits at a distance

Quantum information science involves the storage, manipulation and communication of information encoded in quantum systems, where the phenomena of superposition and entanglement can provide enhancements over what is possible classically. Large-scale quantum information processors require stable and addressable quantum memories, usually in the form of fixed quantum bits (qubits), and a means of transferring and entangling the quantum information between memories that may be separated by macroscopic or even geographic distances. Atomic systems are excellent quantum memories, because appropriate internal electronic states can coherently store qubits over very long timescales. Photons, on the other hand, are the natural platform for the distribution of quantum information between remote qubits, given their ability to traverse large distances with little perturbation. Recently, there has been considerable progress in coupling small samples of atomic gases through photonic channels, including the entanglement between light and atoms and the observation of entanglement signatures between remotely located atomic ensembles. In contrast to atomic ensembles, single-atom quantum memories allow the implementation of conditional quantum gates through photonic channels, a key requirement for quantum computing. Along these lines, individual atoms have been coupled to photons in cavities, and trapped atoms have been linked to emitted photons in free space. Here we demonstrate the entanglement of two fixed single-atom quantum memories separated by one metre. Two remotely located trapped atomic ions each emit a single photon, and the interference and detection of these photons signals the entanglement of the atomic qubits. We characterize the entangled pair by directly measuring qubit correlations with near-perfect detection efficiency. Although this entanglement method is probabilistic, it is still in principle useful for subsequent quantum operations and scalable quantum information applications.     

2个原子与2个耗散腔场量子体系中线性熵的研究

应用J-C模型与相互作用绘景中的密度算符理论,研究了2个二能级Rydberg原子与2个纠缠耗散腔场单光子共振相互作用过程中线性熵的演化特性.推导了此体系中单个原子、单个场以及2个原子、2个腔场的线性熵公式,讨论了腔场的耗散系数和原子-光场相互作用耦合系数对各线性熵演化的振荡性及其周期性的影响.线性熵的时间演化周期与原子...     

一个基于腔衰减的四原子纠缠态制备方案

基于A型三能级原子与腔场及经典场的相互作用理论,利用单光子探测器对从光腔中泄漏出来的光子进行符合测量,提出了一个四原子纠缠态的制备方案,四个分别处于不同光腔中的原子将以一定的概率处于GHZ态。     

Cavity cooling of a single atom

All conventional methods to laser-cool atoms rely on repeated cycles of optical pumping and spontaneous emission of a photon by the atom. Spontaneous emission in a random direction provides the dissipative mechanism required to remove entropy from the atom. However, alternative cooling methods have been proposed for a single atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse cavity; the role of spontaneous emission is replaced by the escape of a photon from the cavity. Application of such cooling schemes would improve the performance of atom-cavity systems for quantum information processing. Furthermore, as cavity cooling does not rely on spontaneous emission, it can be applied to systems that cannot be laser-cooled by conventional methods; these include molecules (which do not have a closed transition) and collective excitations of Bose condensates, which are destroyed by randomly directed recoil kicks. Here we demonstrate cavity cooling of single rubidium atoms stored in an intracavity dipole trap. The cooling mechanism results in extended storage times and improved localization of atoms. We estimate that the observed cooling rate is at least five times larger than that produced by free-space cooling methods, for comparable excitation of the atom.     

级联原子诱导的腔光力系统的稳态纠缠特性

本文提出了一个由三能级级联原子束去纠缠双模腔场的理论方案。利用量子朗之万方程,结合激光的线性近似理论,求出此系统的稳态解。同时,采用Negativity作为纠缠判据,对系统的稳态纠缠进行了数值模拟。研究结果表明,纠缠是由原子的相干态诱导的,即使对于机械品质因子较低的坏腔,当参数取值恰当时,两模腔场以及腔场与镜子之间也都会产生纠缠。并且得出,入射率越大,纠缠越大。     

2个原子与2个耗散腔场量子体系中的量子退相干

应用J-C模型与相互作绘景中的密度算符理论,研究了2个相互纠缠的理想腔体中2个二能级Rydberg原子与2个纠缠耗散腔场单光子共振相互作用过程中的量子退相干,得到了2个二能级原子的退相干因子.通过对数值计算,讨论了耗散系数和原子-光场相互作用耦合系数对原子态的量子相干性的演化特性的影响.结果表明,耗散系数和原子-光场相互作用强度不仅影响原子态的量子相干性的演化的振荡性,而且影响其演化的周期性.     

Quantum jumps of light recording the birth and death of a photon in a cavity

A microscopic quantum system under continuous observation exhibits at random times sudden jumps between its states. The detection of this quantum feature requires a quantum non-demolition (QND) measurement repeated many times during the system's evolution. Whereas quantum jumps of trapped massive particles (electrons, ions or molecules) have been observed, this has proved more challenging for light quanta. Standard photodetectors absorb light and are thus unable to detect the same photon twice. It is therefore necessary to use a transparent counter that can 'see' photons without destroying them. Moreover, the light needs to be stored for durations much longer than the QND detection time. Here we report an experiment in which we fulfil these challenging conditions and observe quantum jumps in the photon number. Microwave photons are stored in a superconducting cavity for times up to half a second, and are repeatedly probed by a stream of non-absorbing atoms. An atom interferometer measures the atomic dipole phase shift induced by the non-resonant cavity field, so that the final atom state reveals directly the presence of a single photon in the cavity. Sequences of hundreds of atoms, highly correlated in the same state, are interrupted by sudden state switchings. These telegraphic signals record the birth, life and death of individual photons. Applying a similar QND procedure to mesoscopic fields with tens of photons should open new perspectives for the exploration of the quantum-to-classical boundary.