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arXiv:1003.3668 · Journal of Modern Optics

Coherent control of nuclear forward scattering

Adriana Pálffy, Jörg Evers

Published Sep 18, 2010• 10 citations
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Abstract

The possibility to control the coherent decay of resonant excitations in nuclear forward scattering is investigated. By changing abruptly the direction of the nuclear hyperfine magnetic field, the coherent scattering of photons can be manipulated and even completely suppressed via quantum interference effects between the nuclear transition currents. The efficiency of the coherent decay suppression and the dependence of the scattered light polarization on the specific switching parameters is analyzed in detail. Using a sophisticated magnetic switching sequence involving four rotations of the hyperfine magnetic field, two correlated coherent decay pulses with different polarizations can be generated out of one excitation, providing single-photon entanglement in the keV regime. The verification of the generated entanglement by testing a single-particle version of Bell's inequality in an X-ray optics experimental setup is put forward.

DOI
10.1080/09500340.2010.511720

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The possibility to control the coherent decay of resonant excitations in nuclear forward scattering is investigated. By changing abruptly the direction of the nuclear hyperfine magnetic field, the coherent scattering of photons can be manipulated and even completely suppressed via quantum interference effects between the nuclear transition currents. The efficiency of the coherent decay suppression and the dependence of the scattered light polarization on the specific switching parameters is analyzed in detail. Using a sophisticated magnetic switching sequence involving four rotations of the hyperfine magnetic field, two correlated coherent decay pulses with different polarizations can be generated out of one excitation, providing single-photon entanglement in the keV regime. The verification of the generated entanglement by testing a single-particle version of Bell's inequality in an X-ray optics experimental setup is put forward.
Generation of single-photon entanglement is discussed in nuclear forward scattering. Using successive switchings of the direction of the nuclear hyperfine magnetic field, the coherent scattering of photons on nuclei is controlled such that two signal pulses are generated out of one initial pump pulse. The two time-resolved correlated signal pulses have different polarizations and energy in the keV regime. Spatial separation of the entangled field modes and extraction of the signal from the background can be achieved with the help of state-of-the-art x-ray polarizers and piezoelectric fast steering mirrors.
Means to coherently control single x-ray photons in resonant scattering of light off nuclei by electric or magnetic fields are investigated theoretically. In order to derive the time response in nuclear forward scattering, we adapt the Maxwell–Bloch equations known from quantum optics to describe the resonant light pulse propagation through a nuclear medium. Two types of time-dependent perturbations of nuclear forward scattering are considered for coherent control of the resonantly scattered x-ray quanta. Firstly, the simultaneous coherent propagation of two pulses through the nuclear sample is addressed. We find that the signal of a weak pulse can be enhanced or suppressed by a stronger pulse simultaneously propagating through the sample in counter-propagating geometry. Secondly, the effect of a time-dependent hyperfine splitting is investigated and we put forward a scheme that allows parts of the spectrum to be shifted forward in time. This is the inverse effect of coherent photon storage and may become a valuable technique if single x-ray photon wavepackets are to become the information carriers in future photonic circuits.
The coherent storage and phase modulation of x-ray single-photon wave packets in the resonant scattering of light off nuclei is theoretically investigated. We show that by switching off and on again the magnetic field in the nuclear sample, phase-sensitive storage of photons in the keV regime can be achieved. Corresponding π phase modulation of the stored photon can be accomplished if the retrieving magnetic field is rotated by 180°. The development of such x-ray single-photon control techniques is a first step towards forwarding quantum optics and quantum information to shorter wavelengths and more compact photonic devices.
The direct interaction between nuclei and strong electromagnetic fields generated by novel coherent x-ray light sources such as the x-ray free electron laser is studied. We investigate the case of various stable or long-lived isotopes with energetically low-lying excited states, where the laser drives the nuclear transition from the ground to the first excited state. We therefore consider the nucleus as a two-level system including the corresponding hyperfine levels in our theoretical description. The performance of present and upcoming x-ray free electron laser facilities in coherently controlling the nuclear excited state population is analyzed for setups involving both solid state as well as accelerated nuclear targets to bridge the gap between photon and transition frequency. Current and predicted laser parameters are applied to calculate excited state populations and signal photon rates of nuclei after a radiation pulse, finding significant improvements compared to former calculations. Furthermore, we determine the parameters necessary to transfer substantial amounts of the nuclear ground state population to the excited state, and therefore to bring nuclear Rabi-oscillation within reach. Additionally, we take into account for the first time collective effects that take place in solid state targets and show that they may provide a significant effect in broadening natural linewidths of nuclear levels depending on the experimental setup. Our findings support the case of nuclear quantum optics for XFEL applications. Therefore, one hopes that eventually coherent control of nuclear transitions can be successfully applied in a number of areas in nuclear physics including preparation, control and detection methods.
Coherent control of light and its interactions with matter is a key aspect of quantum optics. Nuclear resonant interactions enable coherent manipulation of photons at X-ray and γ -ray energies. One promising approach to manipulating γ -photons emitted by radioactive sources exploits ultrasonically vibrating nuclear resonant absorbers. However, previous studies have focused on unpolarized γ -radiation interacting with isotropic resonant media without exploiting polarization effects. Here, we demonstrate simultaneous temporal control of the waveform and polarization state of γ -photons by combining ultrasonic vibrations of magnetically ordered resonant absorbers with anisotropy in nuclear resonant scattering. This method allows interlinking phase differences of individual resonant interaction paths with their polarization dependence. A particular consequence is the possibility to form double-pulse γ -radiation sequences with tunable time-dependent polarization states. Using the reported method, coherent control of γ -photons can be expanded to polarization-based experiments and related applications in quantum optics can be further explored using a tabletop γ -optical setup.
Coherent control of nuclear pumping in a three-level system driven by x-ray light is investigated. In single nuclei the pumping performance is determined by the branching ratio of the excited state populated by the x-ray pulse. Our results are based on the observation that in ensembles of nuclei, cooperative excitation and decay leads to a greatly modified nuclear dynamics which we characterize by a time-dependent cooperative branching ratio. We discuss prospects of steering the x-ray pumping by coherently controlling the cooperative decay. First, we study an ideal case with purely superradiant decay and perfect control of the cooperative emission. A numerical analysis of x-ray pumping in nuclear forward scattering with coherent control of the cooperative decay via externally applied magnetic fields is presented. Next, we provide an extended survey of nuclei suitable for our scheme, and propose proof-of-principle implementations already possible with typical M\"ossbauer nuclei such as 57Fe^{57}\mathrm{Fe}57Fe. Finally, we discuss the application of such control techniques to the population or depletion of long-lived nuclear states.