We present a general theory of gain-modified emission dynamics between two quantum emitters (two level systems) in a linear gain medium, demonstrating how gain modifies the usual radiative decay rates and inter-emitter coupling and decay rates, that are well known from purely lossy systems. We derive a Born-Markov master equation that shows explicitly how gain modifies the usual rates appearing for two emitters in a loss only medium, and introduces new gain terms. We then present Bloch equations in the bare state basis as well as a dressed-state basis (using superradiant and subradiant states). As an application of the theory, we show calculations for a fully three-dimensional metal dimer in a gain-compensated medium, containing two quantum emitters, and show explicit solutions in terms of the quasinormal modes, which easily allows one to obtain all the relevant decay rates. We study the modified decay dynamics, gain excited pumping, as well as the entanglement entropy and spectral emission. We also demonstrate how a breakdown of the weak excitation approximation in the presence of gain requires a careful treatment beyond a linear response, which yields non-trivial incoherent coupling terms that typically are not included in dipole-dipole coupling models or heuristic gain pumping models.
We present a general theory of gain-modified emission dynamics between two quantum emitters (two level systems) in a linear gain medium, demonstrating how gain modifies the usual radiative decay rates and inter-emitter coupling and decay rates, that are well known from purely lossy systems. We derive a Born-Markov master equation that shows explicitly how gain modifies the usual rates appearing for two emitters in a loss only medium, and introduces new gain terms. We then present Bloch equations in the bare state basis as well as a dressed-state basis (using superradiant and subradiant states). As an application of the theory, we show calculations for a fully three-dimensional metal dimer in a gain-compensated medium, containing two quantum emitters, and show explicit solutions in terms of the quasinormal modes, which easily allows one to obtain all the relevant decay rates. We study the modified decay dynamics, gain excited pumping, as well as the entanglement entropy and spectral emission. We also demonstrate how a breakdown of the weak excitation approximation in the presence of gain requires a careful treatment beyond a linear response, which yields non-trivial incoherent coupling terms that typically are not included in dipole-dipole coupling models or heuristic gain pumping models.
In the presence of arbitrary three-dimensional linear media with material loss and amplification, we present an electromagnetic field quantization scheme for quasinormal modes (QNMs), extending previous work for lossy media [S. Franke et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 213901 (2019)]. Applying a symmetrization transformation, we show two fundamentally different ways for constructing a QNM photon Fock space, including (i) where there is a separate operator basis for both gain and loss, and (ii) where the loss and gain degrees of freedom are combined into a single basis. These QNM operator bases are subsequently used to derive the associated QNM master equations, including the interaction with a quantum emitter, modeled as a quantized two-level system (TLS). We then compare the two different quantization approaches, and also show how commonly used phenomenological methods to quantize light in gain-loss resonators are corrected by several important aspects, such as a loss-induced and gain-induced intermode coupling, which appears through the rigorous treatment of loss and amplification on a dissipative mode level. For specific resonator designs, modeled in a fully consistent way with the classical Maxwell equations with open boundary conditions, we then present numerical results for the quantum parameters and observables of a TLS weakly interacting with the medium-assisted field in a gain-loss microdisk resonator system, and discuss the validity of the different quantization approaches for several gain-loss parameter regimes.
Devices involving bound or propagating photons are among the basic building blocks for modern quantum technologies. For example, the bound modes of open optical resonators, coupled to quantum emitters such as atoms, molecules, or quantum dots, are used for an enhanced emission in lasing applications, for increased sensitivity in quantum sensing, and as qubits in quantum computing. Meanwhile, propagating photons are crucial for the transmission of quantum states between spatially separated systems. In this thesis, we develop a rigorous theory of multiple, spatially separated, and individually addressable cavities (or plasmonic resonators) for applications in modern quantum devices. Losses are modeled via the use of quasinormal modes (QNMs), which are solutions to the source-free Helmholtz equation under open boundary conditions, making them the natural modes of open resonators. Quantum emitters are modeled as two-level systems (TLSs) which couple to the electric field via dipole coupling. The multi-cavity theory is developed in three steps: 1. We present a classical scattering theory for a system of multiple QNM cavities, where the multi-cavity Green's function is formulated in terms of the single-cavity modes. The inter-cavity scattering is frequency-dependent to account for retardation delays, and is efficiently calculated numerically, using common (commercial) solvers. 2. We formulate a quantization scheme for QNMs of spatially separated open resonators. We introduce the \textit{cavity separation parameter} as a simple measure for when QNM cavities can be quantized separately and when they have to be treated as a single system with a joint set of operators. We derive a general system-bath Hamiltonian that contains coupling between bound modes, quantum emitters, and a bath of propagating photons, expressed via rigorous, numerically calculable coupling parameters. 3. We discuss the time-dependent theory of QNMs and TLSs coupled to propagating photons. The system-bath interaction is formulated in terms of correlation functions that are again rigorously defined in terms of numerically calculable QNM parameters. The correlation functions are immediately applicable to common methods for calculating the dynamics of open quantum systems. Steps 1-3 are all formulated for general cavity shapes and materials, as well as (in principle) arbitrary background structures. Hence, the theory is applicable to a wide range of devices, including cavities or plasmonic resonators in free space, on a photonic crystal, or on a substrate. For each step, we show example calculations for one-dimensional or three-dimensional cavities.
A time-dependent theory for the interactions between spatially separated lossy cavities in a homogeneous background medium using quantized quasinormal modes (QNMs) is presented. The cavities interact via a bath of traveling photons, described by non-bosonic operators that are orthogonal to the open-cavity QNMs. The retarded (i.e., time-delayed) inter-cavity dynamics are fully described by system-bath correlation functions, in which the emission from one cavity appears as the input field for another. Coupling between quantum emitters (described as two-level systems), placed inside a cavity or embedded in an external medium, and the electromagnetic field (cavity modes and bath photons) is included in the theory, which gives rise to both bath-mediated and QNM-mediated interactions between the emitters.
We theoretically study the dissipative dynamics of a quantum emitter placed near the planar surface of a metal supporting surface-plasmon excitations. The emitter-metal coupling regime can be tuned by varying some control parameters such as the qubit-surface separation and/or the detuning between characteristic frequencies. By using a Green's-function approach jointly with a time-convolutionless master equation, we analyze the non-Markovian dissipative features on the qubit time evolution in two cases of interest: (i) an undriven qubit initially prepared in its excited state and (ii) the evolution toward a steady state for a system driven by a laser field. For weak to moderate qubit-metal coupling strength, and on time scales large compared to the surface plasmon oscillation time, a Markovian approximation for the master-equation results to be adequate to describe the qubit main optical properties: surface enhancements of rate emission, optical spectra, and time-dependent photon-photon correlation functions. The qubit decay shows a crossover passing from being purely dissipative for small qubit-surface distances to plasmon emission for larger separations.
Phenomenological approaches to photon loss have long been the workhorse of cavity-QED, but prove inadequate in the presence of sufficiently broadband light-matter interactions. We present a rigorous and ab initio derivation of a quantum master equation for a quantized optical cavity mode coupled to a dipole, using a quasinormal mode (QNM) quantization procedure for plasmonic and dielectric open-system cavity-QED, which is valid in broadband light-matter interaction regimes, including ultrastrong coupling (USC). The theory supports general three-dimensional resonators with arbitrary dispersion and loss, and thus can be applied to a wide range of realistic open cavities. Our ab initio and gauge-invariant approach fully recovers a recent result for the spectral density of a quantized cavity with a single dipole and reveals important departures from previous heuristic assumptions about system-reservoir coupling. We identify a new criterion for what we term the "broadband dissipative" regime of cavity-QED, where phenomenological models require corrections in accordance with the intrinsic and spatially-dependent complex phase of the QNM, and also shed light on fundamental limits to single-mode models in extreme coupling regimes. Using experimentally motivated plasmonic and dielectric cavity examples, we show validity ranges of our QNM master equation and spectral USC calculations, and discuss prospects for near-term experimental observation of the broadband dissipative effects.
We investigate a system consisting of a single, as well as two emitters strongly coupled to surface plasmon modes of a nanowire using a Green's function approach. Explicit expressions are derived for the spontaneous decay rate into the plasmon modes and for the atom-plasmon coupling as well as a plasmon-mediated atom-atom coupling. Phenomena due to the presence of losses in the metal are discussed. In case of two atoms, we observe Dicke subradiance and superradiance resulting from their plasmon-mediated interaction. Based on this phenomenon, we propose a scheme for a deterministic two-qubit quantum gate. We also discuss a possible realization of interesting many-body Hamiltonians, such as the spin-boson model, using strong emitter-plasmon coupling.