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:2109.06577 · Physical Review Applied

Piezo-orbital backaction force in a rare-earth-doped crystal

Anne Louchet-Chauvet, P. Verlot, J.-Ph. Poizat, T. Chanelière

Published Nov 1, 2023• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Hybrid optomechanics can bridge the quantum and classical domains, to generally extend quantum principles to macroscopic scale. A milestone here would be observing the fundamental backaction force that occurs when a hybrid mechanical system is optically probed, which can be dominated by classical thermal effects. Using a large ensemble of rare-earth ions in a crystal plus time-resolved tomography, researchers see this backaction as a tiny distortion of the crystal's surface around a laser beam's spot, and unambiguously distinguish the photothermal contribution from that of the backaction. Thus rare-earth ions in crystals are confirmed as a promising platform for hybrid optomechanics.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.20.054004

Related papers

Demonstration of Piezo-Orbital Backaction Force in a Bulk Rare-Earth Ion-Doped Crystal

Anne Louchet-Chauvet, P. Verlot, J.-Ph. Poizat +1 more

We consider a hybrid optomechanical system composed of an ensemble of identical rare earth ions embedded in a bulk crystal, and coupled to internal strain. We evidence the generation of a mechanical response within this hybrid system under resonant atomic excitation, which we find to be driven by two fundamental contributions: First, a conservative backaction force coined as piezo-orbital, coming along with the promotion of the atoms in their excited state. This effect is expected in all impurity-doped crystals and reflects the interaction between the ions' orbital shape and the crystal field of their host matrix. The second contribution corresponds to a dissipa-tive, photothermal backaction force associated with the non-radiative relaxation dynamics of the rare-earth ions. The two components are identified by means of a spatio-temporal mapping of the mechanically non-resonant op-tomechanical response in the bulk crystal. The optically resonant nature of the two effects and their fundamental connection to the internal atomic state dynamics are quantitatively confirmed.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)•Jun 26, 2023•0 citations

Strain-mediated ion–ion interaction in rare-earth-doped solids

Anne Louchet-Chauvet, T. Chanelière

It was recently shown that the optical excitation of rare-earth ions produces a local change of the host matrix shape, attributed to a change of the rare-earth ion's electronic orbital geometry. In this work we investigate the consequences of this piezo-orbital backaction and show from a macroscopic model how it yields a disregarded ion-ion interaction mediated by mechanical strain. This interaction scales as1/r3, similarly to the other archetypal ion-ion interactions, namely electric and magnetic dipole-dipole interactions. We quantitatively assess and compare the magnitude of these three interactions from the angle of the instantaneous spectral diffusion mechanism, and re-examine the scientific literature in a range of rare-earth doped systems in the light of this generally underestimated contribution.

arXiv:2301.05531•Journal of Physics Condensed Matter•Apr 18, 2023•7 citations

Rare earth based solid-state qubit platforms

Manish Kumar Singh, J. Ahn, Sean E. Sullivan +11 more

Rare earth ions (REIs) have emerged as a promising platform for quantum technology, especially as memories – given their long optical and spin coherence times. Along with a brief review of progress in the field, we show that doped thin films on silicon can be engineered to approach the properties shown in bulk REI doped crystals and can leverage CMOS nanofabrication methods for the development of integrated quantum devices.

Technical digest - International Electron Devices Meeting/Technical digest•Dec 3, 2022•3 citations

Hole-Burning Mechanisms and Crystal-Field Effects in Rare-Earth Doped Glasses

Thomas Schmidt, P. J. van der Zaag, B. C. Schokker +1 more

Rare-earth ions doped in glasses or crystals have extremely narrow homogeneous optical linewidths at low temperature and are, therefore, excellent probes for studying small spectral splittings [1]. They are further potential candidates for data storage applications.

Spectral Hole-Burning and Related Spectroscopies: Science and Applications•Jan 1, 1992•0 citations

A perspective on hybrid quantum opto- and electromechanical systems

Yiwen Chu, Simon Gröblacher

Quantum opto- and electromechanical systems interface mechanical motion with the electromagnetic modes of optical resonators and microwave circuits. The capabilities and promise of these hybrid devices have been showcased through a variety of recent experimental advances that demonstrated exquisite control over the quantum state of solid-state mechanical objects. In this perspective, we offer an overview of the current state, as well as an outlook of the future directions, challenges, and opportunities for this growing field of research. We focus, in particular, on the prospects for ground state cooling of mechanical modes and their use in quantum circuits, transducers, and networks.

arXiv:2007.03360•Applied Physics Letters•Oct 12, 2020•97 citations

Research progress of quantum coherence performance and applications of micro/nano scale rare-earth doped crystals

Mucheng Guo, Fudong Wang, Zhao-Gao Hu +5 more

Rare-earth ion doped crystals possess stable solid state physicochemical properties and long optical coherence time and spin coherence time, thus showing important development prospect in quantum information science and technology area. Investigations on macroscopic bulk rare-earth single crystals have obtained many promising results, especially in the field of optical quantum memory. With the rapid development of quantum information science, a variety of new functions or multifunctional integrations are found in rare earth crystal systems, such as on chip quantum storage, microwave to optical frequency conversion, scalable quantum single photon sources, and quantum logic gates. As a result, beyond the macroscopic bulk rare-earth single crystals, micro/nano-scale rare-earth crystals have received much attention in recent years and they are regarded as promising candidates in highly integrated hybrid quantum systems and miniaturized quantum devices. Moreover, wet chemical method synthesized micro/nano-scale rare-earth crystals have lower growth difficulty and more flexible manipulation in volume, shape and composition. Therefore, exploring high-performance micro/nano-scale rare-earth crystals and precisely manipulating their quantum states have become one of the important directions in today’s quantum information science and technology research. In this review, we first briefly introduce the basic concepts and high resolution spectroscopic techniques that are commonly used in rare earth ion doped crystals for quantum information science and technologies, such as hole burning technique and photon echo technique. Then we summarize comprehensively recent research status and development trends of rare earth ion doped polycrystalline nanoparticles, thin films, single crystal based micro systems, and some other micro/nano-scale rare earth platforms in terms of material fabrication, quantum coherence property, dephasing mechanisms, and also quantum device explorations. The latest research advances in quantum information applications such as quantum storage, quantum frequency conversion, quantum single photon sources and quantum logic gates are given. Finally, we discuss the possible optimization directions and strategies to improve the component design, material synthesis and quantum performance of micro/nano-scale rare earth crystals and their related quantum devices. This review highlights that the micro/nano-scale rare earth crystals may offer many new possibilities for designing quantum light-matter interfaces, thus are promising quantum systems to develop scalable and integrated quantum devices in the future.

Acta Physica Sinica•Jan 1, 2023•0 citations
Hybrid optomechanics can bridge the quantum and classical domains, to generally extend quantum principles to macroscopic scale. A milestone here would be observing the fundamental backaction force that occurs when a hybrid mechanical system is optically probed, which can be dominated by classical thermal effects. Using a large ensemble of rare-earth ions in a crystal plus time-resolved tomography, researchers see this backaction as a tiny distortion of the crystal's surface around a laser beam's spot, and unambiguously distinguish the photothermal contribution from that of the backaction. Thus rare-earth ions in crystals are confirmed as a promising platform for hybrid optomechanics.
We consider a hybrid optomechanical system composed of an ensemble of identical rare earth ions embedded in a bulk crystal, and coupled to internal strain. We evidence the generation of a mechanical response within this hybrid system under resonant atomic excitation, which we find to be driven by two fundamental contributions: First, a conservative backaction force coined as piezo-orbital, coming along with the promotion of the atoms in their excited state. This effect is expected in all impurity-doped crystals and reflects the interaction between the ions' orbital shape and the crystal field of their host matrix. The second contribution corresponds to a dissipa-tive, photothermal backaction force associated with the non-radiative relaxation dynamics of the rare-earth ions. The two components are identified by means of a spatio-temporal mapping of the mechanically non-resonant op-tomechanical response in the bulk crystal. The optically resonant nature of the two effects and their fundamental connection to the internal atomic state dynamics are quantitatively confirmed.
It was recently shown that the optical excitation of rare-earth ions produces a local change of the host matrix shape, attributed to a change of the rare-earth ion's electronic orbital geometry. In this work we investigate the consequences of this piezo-orbital backaction and show from a macroscopic model how it yields a disregarded ion-ion interaction mediated by mechanical strain. This interaction scales as1/r3, similarly to the other archetypal ion-ion interactions, namely electric and magnetic dipole-dipole interactions. We quantitatively assess and compare the magnitude of these three interactions from the angle of the instantaneous spectral diffusion mechanism, and re-examine the scientific literature in a range of rare-earth doped systems in the light of this generally underestimated contribution.
Quantum opto- and electromechanical systems interface mechanical motion with the electromagnetic modes of optical resonators and microwave circuits. The capabilities and promise of these hybrid devices have been showcased through a variety of recent experimental advances that demonstrated exquisite control over the quantum state of solid-state mechanical objects. In this perspective, we offer an overview of the current state, as well as an outlook of the future directions, challenges, and opportunities for this growing field of research. We focus, in particular, on the prospects for ground state cooling of mechanical modes and their use in quantum circuits, transducers, and networks.
Rare-earth ion doped crystals possess stable solid state physicochemical properties and long optical coherence time and spin coherence time, thus showing important development prospect in quantum information science and technology area. Investigations on macroscopic bulk rare-earth single crystals have obtained many promising results, especially in the field of optical quantum memory. With the rapid development of quantum information science, a variety of new functions or multifunctional integrations are found in rare earth crystal systems, such as on chip quantum storage, microwave to optical frequency conversion, scalable quantum single photon sources, and quantum logic gates. As a result, beyond the macroscopic bulk rare-earth single crystals, micro/nano-scale rare-earth crystals have received much attention in recent years and they are regarded as promising candidates in highly integrated hybrid quantum systems and miniaturized quantum devices. Moreover, wet chemical method synthesized micro/nano-scale rare-earth crystals have lower growth difficulty and more flexible manipulation in volume, shape and composition. Therefore, exploring high-performance micro/nano-scale rare-earth crystals and precisely manipulating their quantum states have become one of the important directions in today’s quantum information science and technology research. In this review, we first briefly introduce the basic concepts and high resolution spectroscopic techniques that are commonly used in rare earth ion doped crystals for quantum information science and technologies, such as hole burning technique and photon echo technique. Then we summarize comprehensively recent research status and development trends of rare earth ion doped polycrystalline nanoparticles, thin films, single crystal based micro systems, and some other micro/nano-scale rare earth platforms in terms of material fabrication, quantum coherence property, dephasing mechanisms, and also quantum device explorations. The latest research advances in quantum information applications such as quantum storage, quantum frequency conversion, quantum single photon sources and quantum logic gates are given. Finally, we discuss the possible optimization directions and strategies to improve the component design, material synthesis and quantum performance of micro/nano-scale rare earth crystals and their related quantum devices. This review highlights that the micro/nano-scale rare earth crystals may offer many new possibilities for designing quantum light-matter interfaces, thus are promising quantum systems to develop scalable and integrated quantum devices in the future.