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:2507.00935

Light Manipulation via Tunable Collective Quantum States in Waveguide-Coupled Bragg and Anti-Bragg Superatoms

Zhengqi Niu, Wei Nie, Daqiang Bao, Xiaoliang He, Wanpeng Gao, Kuang Liu, I.-C. Hoi, Yu-xi Liu, Xiaoming Xie, Zhen Wang, Zhirong Lin

Published Jul 1, 2025• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A many-body quantum system which consists of collective quantum states, such as superradiant and subradiant states, behaves as a multi-level superatom in light-matter interaction. In this work, we experimentally study one-dimensional superatoms in waveguide quantum electrodynamics with a periodic array of superconducting artificial atoms. We engineer the periodic atomic array with two distinct nearest-neighbor spacings, i.e., $d$=$λ_0/2$ and $d$=$λ_0/4$, which correspond to Bragg and anti-Bragg scattering conditions, respectively. The system consists of eight atoms arranged to maintain these specific interatomic distances. By controlling atomic frequencies, we modify Bragg and anti-Bragg superatoms, resulting in distinctly different quantum optical phenomena, such as collectively induced transparency and a broad photonic bandgap. Moreover, due to strong waveguide-atom couplings in superconducting quantum circuits, efficient light manipulations are realized in small-size systems. Our work demonstrates tunable optical properties of Bragg and anti-Bragg superatoms, as well as their potential applications in quantum devices.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2507.00935

Related papers

Collectively induced transparency and absorption in waveguide quantum electrodynamics with Bragg atom arrays

Haolei Cheng, Wei Nie

Abstract Collective quantum states, such as subradiant and superradiant states, are useful for controlling optical responses in many-body quantum systems. In this work, we study novel collective quantum phenomena in waveguide-coupled Bragg atom arrays with inhomogeneous frequencies. For atoms without free-space dissipation, collectively induced transparency is produced by destructive quantum interference between subradiant and superradiant states. In a large Bragg atom array, multi-frequency photon transparency can be obtained by considering atoms with different frequencies. Interestingly, we find collectively induced absorption (CIA) by studying the influence of free-space dissipation on photon transport. Tunable atomic frequencies nontrivially modify decay rates of subradiant states. When the decay rate of a subradiant state equals to the free-space dissipation, photon absorption can reach a limit at a certain frequency. In other words, photon absorption is enhanced with low free-space dissipation, distinct from previous photon detection schemes. We also show multi-frequency CIA by properly adjusting atomic frequencies. Our work presents a way to manipulate collective quantum states and exotic optical properties in waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems.

arXiv:2407.04927•Communications in Theoretical Physics•May 22, 2024•3 citations

Waveguide bandgap engineering with an array of superconducting qubits

Jan David Brehm, Alexander N. Poddubny, Alexander Stehli +3 more

Waveguide quantum electrodynamics offers a wide range of possibilities to effectively engineer interactions between artificial atoms via a one-dimensional open waveguide. While these interactions have been experimentally studied in the few qubit limit, the collective properties of such systems for larger arrays of qubits in a metamaterial configuration has so far not been addressed. Here, we experimentally study a metamaterial made of eight superconducting transmon qubits with local frequency control coupled to the mode continuum of a waveguide. By consecutively tuning the qubits to a common resonance frequency we observe the formation of super- and subradiant states, as well as the emergence of a polaritonic bandgap. Making use of the qubits quantum nonlinearity, we demonstrate control over the latter by inducing a transparency window in the bandgap region of the ensemble. The circuit of this work extends experiments with one and two qubits toward a full-blown quantum metamaterial, thus paving the way for large-scale applications in superconducting waveguide quantum electrodynamics.

•Jan 1, 2021•46 citations

Waveguide bandgap engineering with an array of superconducting qubits

Jan David Brehm, Alexander N. Poddubny, Alexander Stehli +3 more

Abstract Waveguide quantum electrodynamics offers a wide range of possibilities to effectively engineer interactions between artificial atoms via a one-dimensional open waveguide. While these interactions have been experimentally studied in the few qubit limit, the collective properties of such systems for larger arrays of qubits in a metamaterial configuration has so far not been addressed. Here, we experimentally study a metamaterial made of eight superconducting transmon qubits with local frequency control coupled to the mode continuum of a waveguide. By consecutively tuning the qubits to a common resonance frequency we observe the formation of super- and subradiant states, as well as the emergence of a polaritonic bandgap. Making use of the qubits quantum nonlinearity, we demonstrate control over the latter by inducing a transparency window in the bandgap region of the ensemble. The circuit of this work extends experiments with one and two qubits toward a full-blown quantum metamaterial, thus paving the way for large-scale applications in superconducting waveguide quantum electrodynamics.

arXiv:2006.03330•npj Quantum Materials•Feb 4, 2021•60 citations

Programmable Superradiance in an Interacting Qubit Array

Botao Du, Qihao Guo, Ruichao Ma

When multiple quantum emitters couple to a common electromagnetic environment, interference in their collective radiative dynamics gives rise to superradiance and subradiance. In regimes where coherent interactions and collective dissipation compete, the microscopic many-body dynamics and quantum correlations among the emitters that underlie superradiance and subradiance are theoretically challenging and remain experimentally elusive, even though collective emission has been observed in many physical systems. Here, we realize a superconducting qubit array coupled to a common microwave waveguide that mediates collective dissipation, with simultaneous access to coherent interactions and microscopic measurements of many-body dynamics. Engineered qubit-waveguide couplings with tunable amplitude and phase enable control of collective interference and the resulting super- and subradiant states. Leveraging site-resolved control and readout, we directly observe the microscopic decay dynamics of multi-qubit states across different excitation manifolds and track the evolution of populations and tunable quantum correlations. We reveal collective decay in regimes beyond the ideal Dicke model, where strong qubit-qubit interactions stabilize superradiance and subradiance against local dephasing and reshape decay pathways through spatially and spectrally structured many-body eigenstates. Our results establish a flexible platform for exploring collective phenomena in many-body quantum optics and driven-dissipative approaches to robust quantum information processing.

cond-mat.quant-gasCross-listedarXiv:2605.12442•May 13, 2026•0 citations

Quantum optics with Rydberg superatoms

Jan Kumlin, Christoph Braun, Christoph Tresp +3 more

Abstract Quantum optics based on highly excited atoms, also known as Rydberg atoms, has cemented itself as a powerful platform for the manipulation of light at the few-photon level. The Rydberg blockade, resulting from the strong interaction between individual Rydberg atoms, can turn a large ensemble of atoms into a system which collectively resembles a single two-level emitter, a so-called Rydberg superatom. The coupling of this artificial emitter to a driving photonic mode is collectively enhanced by Rydberg interactions, enabling strong coherent coupling at the few-photon level in free-space. The exquisite level of control achievable through this has already demonstrated its utility in applications of quantum computing and information processing. Here, we review the derivation of the collective coupling between a Rydberg superatom and a single light mode and discuss the similarity of this free-space setup to waveguide quantum electrodynamics systems of quantum emitters coupled to photonic waveguides. We also briefly review applications of Rydberg superatoms to quantum optics such as single-photon generation and single-photon subtraction.

arXiv:2312.03649•Journal of Physics Communications•May 1, 2023•21 citations

Atomic-waveguide quantum electrodynamics

Stuart J. Masson, Ana Asenjo-Garcı́a

Atom arrays are a new type of quantum light-matter interface.Here we propose to employ one-dimensional ordered arrays as atomic waveguides.These arrays support optical guided modes that do not decay into free space.We show that these modes can be harnessed to mediate tunable, long-range interactions between additional "impurity qubits" coupled to the chain, without need for photonic structures.The efficient coupling between qubits and atomic waveguides enables the realization of tunable qubit-qubit interactions, which can be short or long range, dissipative or coherent, as well as chiral.Moreover, owing to the two-level nature of atoms, these waveguides are intrinsically quantum.In contrast to classical waveguides, where photons do not interact with each other, atomic waveguides display strong nonlinearities, which create a tunable dissipative channel for qubit-qubit interactions, and opens the door to the exploration of many-body physics between guided photons.This physics is universal as it only relies on photon interference and can also be observed with other types of quantum emitters, such as those in molecular or solid-state systems.

arXiv:1912.06234•Physical Review Research•Nov 10, 2020•95 citations
A many-body quantum system which consists of collective quantum states, such as superradiant and subradiant states, behaves as a multi-level superatom in light-matter interaction. In this work, we experimentally study one-dimensional superatoms in waveguide quantum electrodynamics with a periodic array of superconducting artificial atoms. We engineer the periodic atomic array with two distinct nearest-neighbor spacings, i.e., ddd=λ0/2λ_0/2λ0​/2 and ddd=λ0/4λ_0/4λ0​/4, which correspond to Bragg and anti-Bragg scattering conditions, respectively. The system consists of eight atoms arranged to maintain these specific interatomic distances. By controlling atomic frequencies, we modify Bragg and anti-Bragg superatoms, resulting in distinctly different quantum optical phenomena, such as collectively induced transparency and a broad photonic bandgap. Moreover, due to strong waveguide-atom couplings in superconducting quantum circuits, efficient light manipulations are realized in small-size systems. Our work demonstrates tunable optical properties of Bragg and anti-Bragg superatoms, as well as their potential applications in quantum devices.
Abstract Collective quantum states, such as subradiant and superradiant states, are useful for controlling optical responses in many-body quantum systems. In this work, we study novel collective quantum phenomena in waveguide-coupled Bragg atom arrays with inhomogeneous frequencies. For atoms without free-space dissipation, collectively induced transparency is produced by destructive quantum interference between subradiant and superradiant states. In a large Bragg atom array, multi-frequency photon transparency can be obtained by considering atoms with different frequencies. Interestingly, we find collectively induced absorption (CIA) by studying the influence of free-space dissipation on photon transport. Tunable atomic frequencies nontrivially modify decay rates of subradiant states. When the decay rate of a subradiant state equals to the free-space dissipation, photon absorption can reach a limit at a certain frequency. In other words, photon absorption is enhanced with low free-space dissipation, distinct from previous photon detection schemes. We also show multi-frequency CIA by properly adjusting atomic frequencies. Our work presents a way to manipulate collective quantum states and exotic optical properties in waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems.
Waveguide quantum electrodynamics offers a wide range of possibilities to effectively engineer interactions between artificial atoms via a one-dimensional open waveguide. While these interactions have been experimentally studied in the few qubit limit, the collective properties of such systems for larger arrays of qubits in a metamaterial configuration has so far not been addressed. Here, we experimentally study a metamaterial made of eight superconducting transmon qubits with local frequency control coupled to the mode continuum of a waveguide. By consecutively tuning the qubits to a common resonance frequency we observe the formation of super- and subradiant states, as well as the emergence of a polaritonic bandgap. Making use of the qubits quantum nonlinearity, we demonstrate control over the latter by inducing a transparency window in the bandgap region of the ensemble. The circuit of this work extends experiments with one and two qubits toward a full-blown quantum metamaterial, thus paving the way for large-scale applications in superconducting waveguide quantum electrodynamics.
Abstract Waveguide quantum electrodynamics offers a wide range of possibilities to effectively engineer interactions between artificial atoms via a one-dimensional open waveguide. While these interactions have been experimentally studied in the few qubit limit, the collective properties of such systems for larger arrays of qubits in a metamaterial configuration has so far not been addressed. Here, we experimentally study a metamaterial made of eight superconducting transmon qubits with local frequency control coupled to the mode continuum of a waveguide. By consecutively tuning the qubits to a common resonance frequency we observe the formation of super- and subradiant states, as well as the emergence of a polaritonic bandgap. Making use of the qubits quantum nonlinearity, we demonstrate control over the latter by inducing a transparency window in the bandgap region of the ensemble. The circuit of this work extends experiments with one and two qubits toward a full-blown quantum metamaterial, thus paving the way for large-scale applications in superconducting waveguide quantum electrodynamics.
When multiple quantum emitters couple to a common electromagnetic environment, interference in their collective radiative dynamics gives rise to superradiance and subradiance. In regimes where coherent interactions and collective dissipation compete, the microscopic many-body dynamics and quantum correlations among the emitters that underlie superradiance and subradiance are theoretically challenging and remain experimentally elusive, even though collective emission has been observed in many physical systems. Here, we realize a superconducting qubit array coupled to a common microwave waveguide that mediates collective dissipation, with simultaneous access to coherent interactions and microscopic measurements of many-body dynamics. Engineered qubit-waveguide couplings with tunable amplitude and phase enable control of collective interference and the resulting super- and subradiant states. Leveraging site-resolved control and readout, we directly observe the microscopic decay dynamics of multi-qubit states across different excitation manifolds and track the evolution of populations and tunable quantum correlations. We reveal collective decay in regimes beyond the ideal Dicke model, where strong qubit-qubit interactions stabilize superradiance and subradiance against local dephasing and reshape decay pathways through spatially and spectrally structured many-body eigenstates. Our results establish a flexible platform for exploring collective phenomena in many-body quantum optics and driven-dissipative approaches to robust quantum information processing.
Abstract Quantum optics based on highly excited atoms, also known as Rydberg atoms, has cemented itself as a powerful platform for the manipulation of light at the few-photon level. The Rydberg blockade, resulting from the strong interaction between individual Rydberg atoms, can turn a large ensemble of atoms into a system which collectively resembles a single two-level emitter, a so-called Rydberg superatom. The coupling of this artificial emitter to a driving photonic mode is collectively enhanced by Rydberg interactions, enabling strong coherent coupling at the few-photon level in free-space. The exquisite level of control achievable through this has already demonstrated its utility in applications of quantum computing and information processing. Here, we review the derivation of the collective coupling between a Rydberg superatom and a single light mode and discuss the similarity of this free-space setup to waveguide quantum electrodynamics systems of quantum emitters coupled to photonic waveguides. We also briefly review applications of Rydberg superatoms to quantum optics such as single-photon generation and single-photon subtraction.
Atom arrays are a new type of quantum light-matter interface.Here we propose to employ one-dimensional ordered arrays as atomic waveguides.These arrays support optical guided modes that do not decay into free space.We show that these modes can be harnessed to mediate tunable, long-range interactions between additional "impurity qubits" coupled to the chain, without need for photonic structures.The efficient coupling between qubits and atomic waveguides enables the realization of tunable qubit-qubit interactions, which can be short or long range, dissipative or coherent, as well as chiral.Moreover, owing to the two-level nature of atoms, these waveguides are intrinsically quantum.In contrast to classical waveguides, where photons do not interact with each other, atomic waveguides display strong nonlinearities, which create a tunable dissipative channel for qubit-qubit interactions, and opens the door to the exploration of many-body physics between guided photons.This physics is universal as it only relies on photon interference and can also be observed with other types of quantum emitters, such as those in molecular or solid-state systems.