We study the subradiant collective states of a periodic chain of two-level atoms with either transversal or longitudinal transition dipole moments with respect to the chain axis. We show that long-lived subradiant states can be obtained for the transversal polarization by properly choosing the chain period for a given number of atoms in the case of no open diffraction channels. While not being robust against the positional disorder along the chain, these highly subradiant states have a linewidth that decreases with the number of atoms much faster than it was shown previously. In addition, our paper shows that similar states are present even if there are additional interaction channels between the atoms, i.e., they interact via the waveguide mode of an optical nanofiber, for instance. We develop a theoretical framework allowing us to describe the spectral properties of the system in terms of contributions from each collective eigenstate and we show that subradiant states manifest themselves in the transmission and reflection spectra, allowing us to observe interaction-induced transparency in a very narrow spectral range. Such long-lived collective states may find potential applications in nanophotonics and quantum optics.
We study the subradiant collective states of a periodic chain of two-level atoms with either transversal or longitudinal transition dipole moments with respect to the chain axis. We show that long-lived subradiant states can be obtained for the transversal polarization by properly choosing the chain period for a given number of atoms in the case of no open diffraction channels. While not being robust against the positional disorder along the chain, these highly subradiant states have a linewidth that decreases with the number of atoms much faster than it was shown previously. In addition, our paper shows that similar states are present even if there are additional interaction channels between the atoms, i.e., they interact via the waveguide mode of an optical nanofiber, for instance. We develop a theoretical framework allowing us to describe the spectral properties of the system in terms of contributions from each collective eigenstate and we show that subradiant states manifest themselves in the transmission and reflection spectra, allowing us to observe interaction-induced transparency in a very narrow spectral range. Such long-lived collective states may find potential applications in nanophotonics and quantum optics.
In dense and ordered atomic arrays, destructive interference in photon emission leads to the emergence of subradiant states, which are protected from radiative decay and are characterized by long lifetimes. Within linear optics, subradiant states of one-dimensional chains can be interpreted as guided modes. Collective interactions in arrays have attracted a lot of interest recently, with work showing that collective emission can be used to realize improved quantum memories [1, 2] as well as almost-perfect atomic mirrors [3, 4], among other exciting applications. While tantalizing, these ideas strongly rely on one assumption: that atoms are two-level systems and only have a unique electronic ground state. However, most atoms exhibit a rich and complex internal structure. In this talk, I will discuss the properties of subradiant states of two-level and multilevel atoms. In particular, I will present a new mechanism for subradiance and atomic wave-guiding in atoms with hyperfine structure, which crucially depends on many-body correlations, a radical departure from conventional subradiant states found in classical-dipole lattices or two-level-atom arrays [5].
In this paper we develop a microscopic analysis of the light scattering on a periodic two-level atomic array coupled to an optical nanofiber. We extend the scattering matrix approach for two-level system interaction with nanofiber fundamental guided mode HE11, which allows us to model the scattering spectra. We support these results by considering the dispersion of the polaritonic states formed by the superposition of the fundamental mode of light HE11 and the atomic chain states. To illustrate our approach we start by considering a simple model of light scattering over an atomic array in free space. We discuss Bragg diffraction in the atomic array and show that the scattering spectrum is defined by the nonsymmetric coupling of a two-level system with nanofiber and vacuum modes. The proposed method allows consideration of two-level system interactions with a full account of dipole-dipole interactions via both near fields and long-range interaction owing to nanofiber mode coupling.
When an ensemble of quantum emitters interacts with a common radiation field, their emission becomes collective, giving rise to superradiant and subradiant states, characterized by broadened and narrowed linewidths. In this work, we propose to harness subradiant states for quantum metrology; such states naturally arise in subwavelength-spaced atomic arrays in free space and in small ensembles of emitters coupled to one-dimensional waveguides. We demonstrate that their collective optical response yields sharp, narrow features in the transmittance spectrum, which can be used to enhance sensitivity to external perturbations. This improved sensitivity can be applied to atomic clock operation, spatially resolved imaging of emitter positions, and enables precise detection of both global and spatially varying detunings (such as those induced by electromagnetic fields or gravitational gradients).
Atomic arrays can exhibit collective light emission when the transition wavelength exceeds their lattice spacing. Subradiant states take advantage of this phenomenon to drastically reduce their overall decay rate, allowing for long-lived states in dissipative open systems. We build on previous work to investigate whether or not disorder can further decrease the decay rate of a singly excited atomic array. More specifically, we consider spatial disorder of varying strengths in a one-dimensional (1D) half waveguide and in 1D, two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) atomic arrays in free space and analyze the effect on the most subradiant modes. While we confirm that the dilute half waveguide exhibits an analog of Anderson localization, the dense half waveguide and free-space systems can be understood through the creation of close-packed, few-body subradiant states similar to those found in the Dicke limit. In general, we find that disorder provides little advantage in generating darker subradiant states in free space on average and will often accelerate decay. However, one could potentially change interatomic spacing within the array to engineer specific subradiant states.
In contrast to free space, in waveguides the dispersive and dissipative dipole–dipole interactions among quantum emitters exhibit a periodic behavior over remarkably long distances. We propose a novel setup, to our knowledge, exploiting this long-range periodicity in order to create highly excited subradiant states and facilitate fast controlled collective energy transport among far-apart ensembles coupled to a waveguide. For sufficiently large ensembles, collective superradiant emission into the fiber modes dominates over its free space counterpart. We show that, for a large number of emitters, a fast transverse coherent pulse can create almost perfect subradiant states with up to 50% excitation. On the other hand, for a coherent excitation of one sub-ensemble above an overall excitation fraction of 50% we find a nearly lossless and fast energy transfer to the ground state sub-ensemble. This transport can be enhanced or suppressed by controlling the positions of the ensembles relative to each other, while it can also be realized with a random position distribution. In the optimally enhanced case this fast transfer appears as superradiant emission with subsequent superabsorption, yet, without a superradiant decay after the absorption. The highly excited subradiant states, as well as the superradiant excitation transfer, appear as suitable building blocks in applications such as active atomic clocks, quantum batteries, quantum information protocols, and quantum metrology procedures such as fiber-based Ramsey schemes.
Driven by the need to develop efficient atom-photon interfaces, recent efforts have proposed replacing cavities by large arrays of cold atoms that can support subradiant or superradiant collective states. In practice, subradiant states are decoupled from radiation, which constitutes a hurdle to most applications. In this work, we study theoretically a protocol that bypasses this limit using a one dimensional chain composed of N three-level atoms in a V-shaped configuration. Throughout the protocol, the chain behaves as a time-varying metamaterial: enabling absorption, storage, and on-demand emission in a spectrally and spatially controlled mode. Taking into account the quantum nature of atoms, we establish the boundary between the linear regime and the nonlinear regime. In the nonlinear regime, we demonstrate that doubly excited states can be coherently transferred from superradiant to subradiant states, opening the way to the optical characterization of their entanglement.