Nonclassical motional states of matter are of interest both from a fundamental perspective but also for their potential technological applications as resources in various quantum processing tasks such as quantum teleportation, sensing, communication, and computation. In this work we explore the motional effects of a harmonically trapped, excited two-level emitter coupled to a one-dimensional photonic system. As the emitter decays it experiences a momentum recoil that entangles its motion with the emitted photon pulse. In the long-time limit the emitter relaxes to its electronic ground state, while its reduced motional state remains entangled with the outgoing photon. We find photonic systems where the long-time reduced motional state of the emitter, though mixed, is highly nonclassical and in some cases approaches a pure motional Fock state. Motional recoil engineering can be simpler to experimentally implement than complex measurement and feedback based methods to engineer novel quantum mechanical states of motion.
Nonclassical motional states of matter are of interest both from a fundamental perspective but also for their potential technological applications as resources in various quantum processing tasks such as quantum teleportation, sensing, communication, and computation. In this work we explore the motional effects of a harmonically trapped, excited two-level emitter coupled to a one-dimensional photonic system. As the emitter decays it experiences a momentum recoil that entangles its motion with the emitted photon pulse. In the long-time limit the emitter relaxes to its electronic ground state, while its reduced motional state remains entangled with the outgoing photon. We find photonic systems where the long-time reduced motional state of the emitter, though mixed, is highly nonclassical and in some cases approaches a pure motional Fock state. Motional recoil engineering can be simpler to experimentally implement than complex measurement and feedback based methods to engineer novel quantum mechanical states of motion.
Photonically interconnected matter qubit systems have wide-ranging applications across quantum science and technology, with entanglement between distant qubits serving as a universal resource. While state-of-the-art performance in heralded entanglement generation has thus far been achieved in trapped atomic systems modeled as stationary emitters, the improvements to fidelities and generation rates demanded by large-scale applications require consideration of their motional degrees of freedom. Here, we derive the effects of atomic motion on spontaneous emission coupled into arbitrary optical modes and study the implications for commonly used atom-atom entanglement protocols. We arrive at a coherent physical picture in the form of “kick operators” associated with each instant in the photonic wavepackets, which also suggests a method to mitigate motional errors by disentangling qubit and motion postherald. This proposed correction technique removes overheads associated with the thermal motion of atoms and may greatly increase entanglement rates in long-distance quantum network links by allowing single-photon-based protocols to be used in the high-fidelity regime.
We propose to synthesize arbitrary nonclassical motional states in optomechanical systems by using sideband excitations and photon blockade. We first demonstrate that the Hamiltonian of the optomechanical systems can be reduced, in the strong single-photon optomechanical coupling regime when the photon blockade occurs, to one describing the interaction between a driven two-level trapped ion and the vibrating modes, and then show a method to generate target states by using a series of classical pulses with desired frequencies, phases, and durations. We further analyze the effect of the photon leakage, due to small anharmonicity, on the fidelity of the expected motional state, and study environment induced decoherence. Moreover, we also discuss the experimental feasibility and provide operational parameters using the possible experimental data.
Linear quantum computation and teleportation requires interference of two single photons pulses. These photons must be indistinguishable i.e. must have same pulse width, arrival time etc. Moreover, "if the radiative transition between two quantum states of a single emitter is broadened due to spontaneous emission, single photon pulse width is Fourier transform limited" and can generate indistinguishable photons[4]. Resonant fluorescence does not have any jitter in photon emission due to the absence of non-radiative relaxation process. "Nonclassical light can be generated by resonant excitation of individual emitters to scatter single photon with coherence property determine by laser source". This creates a prototype quantum optical circuit and provide a test bed for all optical generation, distribution, and detection of nonclassical light on a common photonic chip for semiconductor based photonic information technology[Reithmaier et al.]. Moreover, resonance fluorescence is used in high fidelity readout of trapped ion qubits, and "resonant coherent excitation on quantum dot has proven to be very efficient for achieving on high degree of indistinguishability and coherence"[4].
Within the matrix product state framework, we study the non-Markovian feedback dynamics of a two-level system interacting with the electromagnetic field inside a semi-infinite waveguide where the excitation of an atom-photon bound state is possible. Taking the steady-state excitation of the emitter as a figure of merit, we compare the trapped excitation for an initially excited quantum emitter and an emitter prepared via quantized pulses containing up to four photons. In the latter case, we find that for large feedback delay times, multiphoton pulses can yield a significantly higher steady-state excitation than possible with an initially excited emitter since the stimulated emission process can enhance the trapping probability in comparison to the spontaneous decay of an initially excited emitter.
Reduced abstract. This Thesis explores emergent cooperative phenomena in collective light-matter systems. We study ensembles of interacting quantum emitters coherently driven by a laser field and coupled to photonic structures, focusing on the hybrid description of emitters dressed by light. The interplay among quantum emitters, coherent driving, and photonic environments reveals a rich landscape of cooperative effects. While single-emitter dressing has been widely studied, we address collective phenomena in two non-identical emitters modelled as two-level systems. Strong interaction forms a dimer exhibiting superradiant and subradiant states, with two-photon resonances directly connecting ground and doubly excited states. This nonlinear process, central to the Thesis, enables new regimes of cooperative light-matter physics. Analytical studies show how interactions reshape observables such as emission intensity, photon statistics, and spectra, offering implications for quantum metrology. The sensitivity of two-photon processes to emitter distance and driving strength enables high-precision sensing and sub-wavelength imaging. Unexpectedly, we find that off-resonant virtual states may gain population through dissipation, redefining their role in open systems. To capture this, we develop a hierarchical adiabatic elimination method for metastable dynamics. We also analyze entanglement in emitters coupled to a lossy cavity, identifying five mechanisms, including the frequency-resolved Purcell effect introduced here. This selective enhancement stabilizes cooperative states and enables scalable entanglement. Our models, tailored to solid-state platforms such as quantum dots and molecular aggregates, address challenges like inhomogeneous broadening and decoherence, demonstrating the feasibility of harnessing cooperative light-matter effects for quantum technologies.
Due to their small mass and large mechanical stiffness, free-standing carbon nanotubes turn out to be superb high-frequency mechanical resonators that could find applications in mass and force sensing. With resonance frequencies up to the gigahertz regime, one can envision cooling the mechanical motion of such nanotubes to its quantum mechanical ground state at cryogenic temperatures. This opens the possibility to generate highly nonclassical states of the mechanical motion, similar to those created several years ago with electromagnetic radiation in superconducting microwave resonators. Such states are interesting from a fundamental physics point of view, but potentially also for quantum information and sensing applications. While classical activation of a harmonic oscillator will always produce ``quasiclassical'' coherent states, a necessary ingredient for the production of nonclassical states such as Fock states is a nonlinear element, e.g., superconducting qubits in the case of microwaves. This work predicts that for mechanical oscillations, the spin-orbit coupling of the mechanical motion to a single localized electron spin can do the trick by acting as a nonlinear element for phonons.