Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2012.06546 · WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks

Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics and Chiral Quantum Optics

Michael Scheucher, Jürgen Volz, Arno Rauschenbeutel

Published Nov 1, 2020• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) investigates the interaction between light confined in a resonator and particles, such as atoms. In recent years, CQED experiments have reached the optical domain resulting in many interesting applications in the realm of quantum information processing. For many of these application it is necessary to overcome limitations imposed by photon loss. In this context whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators have obtained significant interest. Besides their small mode volume and their ultra high quality, they also exhibit favorable polarization properties that give rise to chiral light--matter interaction. In this chapter, we will discuss the origin and the consequences of these chiral features and we review recent achievements in this area.

DOI
10.1142/9789814566070_0005

Related papers

Structured Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics

Shunfa Liu, Jiantao Ma, Hanqing Liu +9 more

A cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) system consisting of a confined single photon and a single quantum emitter serves as a fundamental block for quantum optics and photonic quantum technologies. The canonical optical mode employed in the conventional cavity quantum electrodynamics features a uniform polarization distribution, leading to the scalar light-matter interaction in most existing experiments. Despite the rapid progress in the generation of structured light with spatially varied polarizations, the structured light-matter interaction, especially at the single quanta level, is highly intriguing yet largely unexplored. Here, we present the structured light-matter interaction at the single-photon level in a semiconductor cavity quantum electrodynamics system. Four distinct structured cavity modes that are spectrally close to each other are constructed in a micropillar cavity. By spatially locating a single epitaxial quantum dot (QD) at the periphery of a semiconductor micropillar cavity and spectrally tuning the QD emission wavelength into the resonances of the structured cavity modes, cavity-enhanced single-photon emissions with spin-locked chiral orbital angular momentum (OAM) and engineerable spin-orbit entanglements are achieved within a single wavelength-scale device. Our work opens an unexplored paradigm of structured quantum light-matter interactions and may further advance chiral quantum optics and high-dimensional photonic quantum technology.

physics.opticsCross-listedarXiv:2607.21012•Jul 24, 2026

Nonlinear and quantum optics with whispering gallery resonators

Dmitry Strekalov, Christoph Marquardt, Andrey B. Matsko +2 more

Optical whispering gallery modes (WGMs) derive their name from a famous acoustic phenomenon of guiding a wave by a curved boundary observed nearly a century ago.This phenomenon has a rather general nature, equally applicable to sound and all other waves.It enables resonators of unique properties attractive both in science and engineering.Very high quality factors of optical WGM resonators persisting in a wide wavelength range spanning from radio frequencies to ultraviolet light, their small mode volume, and tunable in-and out-coupling make them exceptionally efficient for nonlinear optical applications.Nonlinear optics facilitates interaction of photons with each other and with other physical systems, and is of prime importance in quantum optics.In this paper we review numerous applications of WGM resonators in nonlinear and quantum optics.We outline the current areas of interest, summarize progress, highlight difficulties, and discuss possible future development trends in these areas.

arXiv:1605.07972•Journal of Optics•Nov 16, 2016•328 citations

Cavity quantum electrodynamics

HERBERT WALTHER, Benjamin T. H. Varcoe, Berthold‐Georg Englert +1 more

This paper reviews the work on cavity quantum electrodynamics of free atoms. In recent years, cavity experiments have also been conducted on a variety of solid-state systems resulting in many interesting applications, of which microlasers, photon bandgap structures and quantum dot structures in cavities are outstanding examples. Although these phenomena and systems are very interesting, discussion is limited here to free atoms and mostly single atoms because these systems exhibit clean quantum phenomena and are not disturbed by a variety of other effects. At the centre of our review is the work on the one-atom maser, but we also give a survey of the entire field, using free atoms in order to show the large variety of problems dealt with. The cavity interaction can be separated into two main regimes: the weak coupling in cavity or cavity-like structures with low quality factors Q and the strong coupling when high- Q cavities are involved. The weak coupling leads to modification of spontaneous transitions and level shifts, whereas the strong coupling enables one to observe a periodic exchange of photons between atoms and the radiation field. In this case, atoms and photons are entangled, this being the basis for a variety of phenomena observed, some of them leading to interesting applications in quantum information processing. The cavity experiments with free atoms reached a new domain with the advent of experiments in the visible spectral region. A review on recent achievements in this area is also given.

Reports on Progress in Physics•Apr 3, 2006•1,198 citations

Chiral quantum optics

Arno Rauschenbeutel

Summary form only given. Controlling the interaction of light and matter is the basis for diverse applications ranging from light technology to quantum information processing. Nowadays, many of these applications are based on nanophotonic structures. It turns out that the confinement of light in such nanostructures imposes an inherent link between its local polarization and its propagation direction, also referred to as spin-momentum locking of light [1]. Remarkably, this leads to chiral, i.e., propagation direction-dependent effects in the emission and absorption of light, and elementary processes of light-matter interaction are fundamentally altered. For example, when coupling plasmonic particles or atoms to evanescent fields, the intrinsic mirror symmetry of the particles' emission can be broken. In our group, we observed this effect in the interaction between single rubidium atoms and the evanescent part of a light field that is confined by continuous total internal reflection in a whispering-gallery-mode microresonator [2]. In the following, this allowed us to realize chiral nanophotonic interfaces in which the emission direction of light into the structure is controlled by the polarization of the excitation light [3] or by the internal quantum state of the emitter [4], respectively. Moreover, we employed this chiral interaction to demonstrate an integrated optical isolator [5] as well as an integrated optical circulator [6] which operate at the single-photon level and which exhibit low loss. The latter are the first two examples of a new class of nonreciprocal nanophotonic devices which exploit the chiral interaction between single quantum emitters and transversally confined photons.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)•Jun 1, 2017•0 citations

Cavity QED with Whispering-Gallery Mode Microresonators

Takao Aoki

We review recent progress in the application of whispering-gallery mode microresonators, such as microspheres, microdisks, and microtoroids, in cavity Quantum Electrodynamics (QED). Particular emphasis is made on the studies on the interaction of laser-cooled single atoms with evanescent fi eld of monolithic microtoroidal resonators effi ciently coupled to tapered optical fi bers.

The Review of Laser Engineering•Jan 1, 2013•0 citations

Chiral microresonator assisted by Rydberg-atom ensembles

Xiao-Fei Liu, Tie-Jun Wang, Yong‐Pan Gao +2 more

The chiral light-matter interaction, which shows great potential in applications ranging from photonic devices to quantum information processing, can be achieved with the development of recent experimental advances of the fabrication technologies on nanoscales. Traditionally, the chiral optics based on spin-momentum locking in micro- and nanophotonics could be observed only for specific optical modes, such as the transverse magnetic mode. Here in this study, we investigate that the chirality of a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonator can be well controlled with assistance from coupled Rydberg-atom ensembles. The presented asymmetric backscattering also originates from interferences between scattered optical modes in the WGM microresonator, which is proposed by Wiersig [Phys. Rev. A 84, 063828 (2011)]. Therefore the flow of light can be well controlled, and the statistical properties of photons could be changed by regulating this asymmetric coupling. Most importantly, its universal chiral property is not limited by specific optical modes which may also be used as optical diodes and routers.

Physical Review A•Sep 25, 2018•15 citations
Cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) investigates the interaction between light confined in a resonator and particles, such as atoms. In recent years, CQED experiments have reached the optical domain resulting in many interesting applications in the realm of quantum information processing. For many of these application it is necessary to overcome limitations imposed by photon loss. In this context whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators have obtained significant interest. Besides their small mode volume and their ultra high quality, they also exhibit favorable polarization properties that give rise to chiral light--matter interaction. In this chapter, we will discuss the origin and the consequences of these chiral features and we review recent achievements in this area.
A cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) system consisting of a confined single photon and a single quantum emitter serves as a fundamental block for quantum optics and photonic quantum technologies. The canonical optical mode employed in the conventional cavity quantum electrodynamics features a uniform polarization distribution, leading to the scalar light-matter interaction in most existing experiments. Despite the rapid progress in the generation of structured light with spatially varied polarizations, the structured light-matter interaction, especially at the single quanta level, is highly intriguing yet largely unexplored. Here, we present the structured light-matter interaction at the single-photon level in a semiconductor cavity quantum electrodynamics system. Four distinct structured cavity modes that are spectrally close to each other are constructed in a micropillar cavity. By spatially locating a single epitaxial quantum dot (QD) at the periphery of a semiconductor micropillar cavity and spectrally tuning the QD emission wavelength into the resonances of the structured cavity modes, cavity-enhanced single-photon emissions with spin-locked chiral orbital angular momentum (OAM) and engineerable spin-orbit entanglements are achieved within a single wavelength-scale device. Our work opens an unexplored paradigm of structured quantum light-matter interactions and may further advance chiral quantum optics and high-dimensional photonic quantum technology.
Optical whispering gallery modes (WGMs) derive their name from a famous acoustic phenomenon of guiding a wave by a curved boundary observed nearly a century ago.This phenomenon has a rather general nature, equally applicable to sound and all other waves.It enables resonators of unique properties attractive both in science and engineering.Very high quality factors of optical WGM resonators persisting in a wide wavelength range spanning from radio frequencies to ultraviolet light, their small mode volume, and tunable in-and out-coupling make them exceptionally efficient for nonlinear optical applications.Nonlinear optics facilitates interaction of photons with each other and with other physical systems, and is of prime importance in quantum optics.In this paper we review numerous applications of WGM resonators in nonlinear and quantum optics.We outline the current areas of interest, summarize progress, highlight difficulties, and discuss possible future development trends in these areas.
This paper reviews the work on cavity quantum electrodynamics of free atoms. In recent years, cavity experiments have also been conducted on a variety of solid-state systems resulting in many interesting applications, of which microlasers, photon bandgap structures and quantum dot structures in cavities are outstanding examples. Although these phenomena and systems are very interesting, discussion is limited here to free atoms and mostly single atoms because these systems exhibit clean quantum phenomena and are not disturbed by a variety of other effects. At the centre of our review is the work on the one-atom maser, but we also give a survey of the entire field, using free atoms in order to show the large variety of problems dealt with. The cavity interaction can be separated into two main regimes: the weak coupling in cavity or cavity-like structures with low quality factors Q and the strong coupling when high- Q cavities are involved. The weak coupling leads to modification of spontaneous transitions and level shifts, whereas the strong coupling enables one to observe a periodic exchange of photons between atoms and the radiation field. In this case, atoms and photons are entangled, this being the basis for a variety of phenomena observed, some of them leading to interesting applications in quantum information processing. The cavity experiments with free atoms reached a new domain with the advent of experiments in the visible spectral region. A review on recent achievements in this area is also given.
Summary form only given. Controlling the interaction of light and matter is the basis for diverse applications ranging from light technology to quantum information processing. Nowadays, many of these applications are based on nanophotonic structures. It turns out that the confinement of light in such nanostructures imposes an inherent link between its local polarization and its propagation direction, also referred to as spin-momentum locking of light [1]. Remarkably, this leads to chiral, i.e., propagation direction-dependent effects in the emission and absorption of light, and elementary processes of light-matter interaction are fundamentally altered. For example, when coupling plasmonic particles or atoms to evanescent fields, the intrinsic mirror symmetry of the particles' emission can be broken. In our group, we observed this effect in the interaction between single rubidium atoms and the evanescent part of a light field that is confined by continuous total internal reflection in a whispering-gallery-mode microresonator [2]. In the following, this allowed us to realize chiral nanophotonic interfaces in which the emission direction of light into the structure is controlled by the polarization of the excitation light [3] or by the internal quantum state of the emitter [4], respectively. Moreover, we employed this chiral interaction to demonstrate an integrated optical isolator [5] as well as an integrated optical circulator [6] which operate at the single-photon level and which exhibit low loss. The latter are the first two examples of a new class of nonreciprocal nanophotonic devices which exploit the chiral interaction between single quantum emitters and transversally confined photons.
The chiral light-matter interaction, which shows great potential in applications ranging from photonic devices to quantum information processing, can be achieved with the development of recent experimental advances of the fabrication technologies on nanoscales. Traditionally, the chiral optics based on spin-momentum locking in micro- and nanophotonics could be observed only for specific optical modes, such as the transverse magnetic mode. Here in this study, we investigate that the chirality of a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) microresonator can be well controlled with assistance from coupled Rydberg-atom ensembles. The presented asymmetric backscattering also originates from interferences between scattered optical modes in the WGM microresonator, which is proposed by Wiersig [Phys. Rev. A 84, 063828 (2011)]. Therefore the flow of light can be well controlled, and the statistical properties of photons could be changed by regulating this asymmetric coupling. Most importantly, its universal chiral property is not limited by specific optical modes which may also be used as optical diodes and routers.