Two interacting Rydberg atoms coupled to a waveguide may realize a giant-atom platform that exhibits controllable (phase-dependent) chirality through which the direction of nonreciprocally scattered photons can be switched on demand, e.g., by the geometrical tuning of an external driving field. In our platform, at variance with traditional setups, the chirality arises from a simple optical implementation of the local phase difference between two coupling points of the Rydberg giant atom. When employing two (or more) driving fields, this platform can also be used as a frequency converter with its strongly asymmetric efficiency being significantly enhanced via the chiral couplings. Our Rydberg giant-atom platform is well suited for chiral quantum optics applications and further offers direct scalability for reaching tunable frequency conversion in the optical domain.
Two interacting Rydberg atoms coupled to a waveguide may realize a giant-atom platform that exhibits controllable (phase-dependent) chirality through which the direction of nonreciprocally scattered photons can be switched on demand, e.g., by the geometrical tuning of an external driving field. In our platform, at variance with traditional setups, the chirality arises from a simple optical implementation of the local phase difference between two coupling points of the Rydberg giant atom. When employing two (or more) driving fields, this platform can also be used as a frequency converter with its strongly asymmetric efficiency being significantly enhanced via the chiral couplings. Our Rydberg giant-atom platform is well suited for chiral quantum optics applications and further offers direct scalability for reaching tunable frequency conversion in the optical domain.
-type atom coupled to a T-shaped waveguide. By controlling local coupling phases to engineer quantum interference, perfect directional frequency conversion is achieved without an engineered chiral waveguide structure. The multi-path interference of the giant atom, combined with local phase tuning, enables flexible control over photon transmission direction and frequency, supporting multiple directional conversion channels. In the Markovian limit, the cavity-mediated structure realizes two fully efficient directional channels, while under non-Markovian conditions, retardation effects open several distinct frequency conversion windows. This phase-controlled, multi-frequency directional architecture provides a versatile platform for frequency-multiplexed quantum routing and networking.
Abstract In this work, we investigate the nontrivial single-photon scattering properties of giant atoms coupled to waveguides that can be an effective platform for realising nonreciprocal and chiral quantum optics. For the two-level giant-atom setup, we identify the condition for nonreciprocal transmission: the external atomic dissipation is further required other than the breaking of time-reversal symmetry by local coupling phases. Especially, in the non-Markovian regime, unconventional revival peaks periodically appear in the reflection spectrum of such a two-level giant-atom system. To explore more interesting scattering behaviours, we further extend the two-level giant-atom system to Δ-type and ∇-type three-level giant atoms coupled to double waveguides without external atomic dissipation. We analyse the different physical mechanisms for the nonreciprocal and chiral scattering properties of the ∆-type and ∇-type giant atoms. Our proposed giant-atom structures have potential applications of high-efficient single-photon targeted router and circulator for quantum information precessing.
This work is to investigate the single-photon scattering in a waveguide quantum electrodynamics system consisting of two dipole-coupled giant atoms, each interacting with a separate one-dimensional infinite waveguide at two distinct coupling points. Our primary objective is to establish a theoretical framework for manipulating photon propagation paths via quantum interference induced by multiple coupling points and local phase engineering. Unlike traditional chiral coupling schemes, an innovative method, in which the coupling phases are designed locally at each atom-waveguide interface, is used to achieve effective chiral coupling, thereby introducing novel quantum interference mechanisms. Using a real-space approach, we derive analytical expressions for four-port scattering amplitudes. We establish the conditions for achieving perfect directional routing to any output port and demonstrate the coherent control mechanisms implemented by geometric and local coupled phases. Continuous frequency tunability is primarily achieved through dipole-dipole interaction, and finely tuned through the accumulated phase and local coupling phases. Local phase differences precisely regulate port-specific probability distributions within the waveguides while preserving total routing efficiency. Furthermore, we elucidate the mechanisms of nonreciprocal transport and chiral scattering. The analysis reveals different governing principles: perfect nonreciprocity arises from the interplay of the accumulated phase, local coupling phases, photon-atom detuning, and dipole-dipole interaction. In contrast, perfect chiral scattering depends entirely on the accumulated phase and local coupling phases, and is independent of detuning. Notably, under the phase-matching conditions, the system achieves both perfect chiral and directional routing, and realizes frequency-selective path-asymmetric photon control. These findings provide a comprehensive framework for manipulating quantum interference in multi-atom waveguide systems, highlighting applications in quantum information processing, including tunable single-photon routers, isolators, and chiral quantum nodes. By implementing superconducting circuits, the local phase can be dynamically adjusted, thus proving the feasibility of the experiment.
We study chiral and nonreciprocal single-photon scattering in a chiral-giant-molecule waveguide-QED system. Here, the giant molecule consists of two coupled giant atoms, which interact with two linear waveguides, forming a four-port quantum device. We obtain the exact analytical expressions of the four scattering amplitudes using a real-space method. Under the Markovian limit, we find that the single-photon scattering behavior is determined by the coupling strength between the giant atoms and the waveguides, the coupling strength between the two giant atoms, and the nondipole effect caused by the phase accumulation of photons traveling between the coupling points. It is also found that chiral and nonreciprocal single-photon scattering can be realized by introducing the chiral coupling to break the symmetry in the coupling configuration between the giant molecule and the waveguides. In addition, an ideal chiral emitter-waveguide coupling enables a directional single-photon routing. In the non-Markovian regime, the scattering spectra are characterized by more abundant structures with multiple peaks and dips. In particular, we demonstrate that the non-Markovian retarded effect can induce the nonreciprocal single-photon scattering. Our results have potential applications in the design of optical quantum devices involving giant atoms, which can provide an efficient platform for studying chiral quantum optics.
Abstract Single-photon frequency conversion in the system composed of a Λ -type three-level giant atom chiral couples to a one-dimensional waveguide is investigated. Two configurations, i.e. one of the atomic transitions couples to the waveguide at two separated points while the other one either directly or indirectly couples to the waveguide at a single point, are considered. The scattering amplitudes for representing the frequency conversion in the two kinds of coupling schematics are obtained analytically with the real-space approach. The results show that perfect nonreciprocal transmission with preserving frequency and ideal directional frequency conversion can be realized due to the time-reversal symmetry broken induced by the chiral coupling as well as the self-interference comes from the giant atom. In particular, in the indirect coupling configuration, the scattering spectra exhibit two directional frequency conversion windows due to the atom-cavity coupling, which enables the present system suitable for the simultaneous manipulation of incident photons with different frequencies. These results may have potential applications in various quantum information processing and quantum network engineering.
Abstract A waveguide-QED with giant atoms, which is capable of accessing various limits of a small one, provides a new paradigm to study photon scatterings. Thus, how to achieve nonreciprocal photon transmissions via such a giant atom setup is highly desirable. In this study, the nonreciprocal single-photon scattering characteristics of a double-driven Λ-type three-level giant atom, where one of the transition couples to a 1D waveguide at two separate points, and the other is driven by two coherent driving fields, are investigated. It is found that a frequency-tunable single-photon diode with an ideal contrast ratio can be achieved by properly manipulating the local coupling phases between the giant atom and the waveguide, the accumulation phase between the two waveguide coupling points, the Rabi frequencies and phase difference of the two driven fields. Compared to the previous single driving schemes, on the one hand, the presence of the second driving field can provide more tunable parameters to manipulate the nonreciprocal single-photon scattering behavior. On the other hand, here perfect nonreciprocal transmission for photons with arbitrary frequencies is achievable by tuning the driving phases while the two driving fields keep on turning, which provides an alternative way to control the nonreciprocal single-photon scattering. Furthermore, the results reveal that both the location and width of each optimal nonreciprocal transmission window is also sensitive to the driving detuning, and a single-photon diode with wide or narrow bandwidth can be realized based on demand. These results may be beneficial for designing nonreciprocal single-photon devices based on a double-driven giant atom setup.