We examine quantum statistical properties of transmission and reflection from a chiral waveguide coupled to qubits for arbitrary input powers. We report on several remarkable features of output fields such as transparency, quantum nonreciprocity, and the second-order correlation function g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) values less than unity. In particular, for two qubits detuned antisymmetrically with respect to the central waveguide frequency, we find transparency in forward transmission and in photon numbers for arbitrary values of the input powers provided the phase separation between qubits is an integer multiple of π . Values of g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) less than unity can be reached even for nonzero value of the intrinsic damping by using phase separation different from integer multiple of π , marking the transition from classical to quantum light. We also uncover a different type of critical coupling regime for qubits that enables complete suppression of forward-propagating amplitude transmission at specific driving powers, giving rise to enhanced nonreciprocal effects in both transmission and quantum fluctuations in amplitudes. Forward propagation amplifies the quantum fluctuations in amplitudes, while backward propagation significantly suppresses them. These findings open pathways for controlling light-matter interactions in chiral quantum electrodynamics, with potential applications in quantum information and nonreciprocal quantum devices.
We examine quantum statistical properties of transmission and reflection from a chiral waveguide coupled to qubits for arbitrary input powers. We report on several remarkable features of output fields such as transparency, quantum nonreciprocity, and the second-order correlation function g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) values less than unity. In particular, for two qubits detuned antisymmetrically with respect to the central waveguide frequency, we find transparency in forward transmission and in photon numbers for arbitrary values of the input powers provided the phase separation between qubits is an integer multiple of π . Values of g ( 2 ) ( 0 ) less than unity can be reached even for nonzero value of the intrinsic damping by using phase separation different from integer multiple of π , marking the transition from classical to quantum light. We also uncover a different type of critical coupling regime for qubits that enables complete suppression of forward-propagating amplitude transmission at specific driving powers, giving rise to enhanced nonreciprocal effects in both transmission and quantum fluctuations in amplitudes. Forward propagation amplifies the quantum fluctuations in amplitudes, while backward propagation significantly suppresses them. These findings open pathways for controlling light-matter interactions in chiral quantum electrodynamics, with potential applications in quantum information and nonreciprocal quantum devices.
We present a theoretical study of quantum nonreciprocity induced via a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) in an otherwise achiral, waveguide quantum electrodynamics. Using the full quantum master equation and input-output formalism for two-level systems coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide and driven by a coherent field, we show that an engineered DMI enables strong nonreciprocity in an otherwise reciprocal system, with tunable behavior governed by driving strength, detunings, and phase of the DMI. Using it not only demonstrates nonreciprocal transmission but also demonstrates nonreciprocal quantum entanglement and photon bunching. The system can end up in a pure state as certain decohering channels do not participate. The pure state leads to power-independent perfect transparency. Conditions are derived and depend on the propagation phase, the relative detuning of the two qubits, and the exchange interaction. At these pure-state points, the steady-state entanglement is reciprocal and admits a closed-form expression; away from them, phase control generates strong entanglement nonreciprocity. The DMI also reshapes photon statistics, redistributing two-photon correlations and shifting superbunching from transmission (no DMI) to reflection at finite DMI. These results establish DMI as a versatile resource for engineering nonreciprocity, transparency, entanglement, and photon correlations in waveguide QED, enabling isolators, routers, and superbunching light sources without requiring chiral waveguides.
We study the nonreciprocal properties of transmitted photons in a chiral waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) system, including single- and two-photon transmissions and second-order correlations. For the single-photon transmission, the nonreciprocity is induced by the effects of chiral coupling and atomic dissipation in the weak coupling region. It vanishes in the strong coupling regime when the effect of atomic dissipation becomes ignorable. In the case of two-photon transmission, there exist two ways of going through the emitter: independently as plane waves and formation of bound state. Besides the nonreciprocal behavior of plane waves, the bound state that differs in two directions also alters transmission probabilities. In addition, the second-order correlation of transmitted photons depends on the interference between plane wave and bound state. The destructive interference leads to the strong antibunching in the weak coupling region, while the effective formation of bound state leads to the strong bunching in the intermediate coupling region. However, the negligible interactions for left-propagating photons hardly change the statistics of the input coherent state.
Chiral interactions enable directional control of quantum light, providing new routes for nonreciprocal photon dynamics. While previous studies focused on single photon regimes, this work explores the non-Markovian multiphoton regime in a giant nonlinear system nonlocally coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide, with a tunable phase difference breaking parity symmetry. We show that single-photon transport remains reciprocal, but multiphoton dynamics become chiral, generating direction-dependent higher-order correlations and enabling deterministic creation of multiphoton states with nontrivial statistics from a single input direction, even under strong dissipation. The non-Markovian nature allows tuning of transmitted photon statistics via the coupling-point separation. At a specific phase, internal dynamics become Markovian while output photons retain non-Markovian features. Under strong coherent driving, we uncover nonreciprocal dissipative phase transitions and demonstrate how non-Markovianity shapes the critical response. This framework offers a general strategy for controlling chiral multiphoton dynamics in nonlocally coupled waveguide QED systems. Chiral light-matter interactions offer directional control of quantum states. This work demonstrates that a giant quantum emitter with tunable nonlocal coupling to a waveguide enables direction-dependent multiphoton correlations and dissipative phase transitions, providing a route to engineer non-Markovian chiral dynamics.
Nanophotonic components allow the control of the flow of light in integrated optical environments. Thereby, the light’s strong confinement leads to an inherent link between its local polarization and propagation direction which fundamentally alters the physics of light-matter interaction and gives rise to phenomena such as directional emission and direction-dependent coupling strengths [1]. I will present the underlying principles of this chiral light-matter interaction and its consequences for integrated applications [1]. In particular, I will show how we employ this effect to control the direction of spontaneous emission [2] and to realize low-loss nonreciprocal transmission at the single-photon level through a silica nanofiber [3]. We use two different approaches where either an ensemble of spin-polarized atoms is weakly coupled to a nanofiber or a single atom is strongly coupled to the nanofiber via a whispering-gallery-mode resonator. The resulting optical isolators show a strong imbalance between the transmissions in forward and reverse direction and, at the same time, a forward transmissions exceeding 70%. We extended this system to a 4-port device, where a single atom routes photons nonreciprocally from one fiber port to the next. This realizes a quantum optical circulator [4] which can even be prepared in a superposition of its operational modes. The demonstrated systems exemplify a new class of (quantum) nanophotonic devices that are ideally suited for photonic quantum information processing and quantum simulation. [1] Nature 541, 473, (2017). [2] Science 346, 67 (2014). [3] Phys. Rev. X 5, 041036 (2015). [4] Science 354, 1577 (2016).
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 investigate coherent controlling single-photon nonreciprocal propagation in a pair of waveguides chirally coupled to an atom by using a classical optical field. The results show that for a nonresonant photon, the perfect single-photon nonreciprocal propagation can be realized by adjusting the Rabi frequency and detuning. Furthermore, the nonreciprocal propagation is switchable by using the classic field. The calculated results also show that the system can be used as a frequency filter to filter out some special frequencies for single-photon nonreciprocal propagation. The influences of nonperfect chiral coupling and dissipations on the nonreciprocal propagation are also shown.