Analog coprocessors for neural networks are an intensively developing field. They provide approximate results of computations for relatively low energy cost and at high speed. We show that a set of ring resonators with Brillouin interaction between photons and phonons, being coupled to a waveguide, can be used to implement matrix-vector multiplication. The input vector is formed by occupancies of the anti-Stokes optical modes pumped via spontaneous Brillouin scattering, i.e, scattering on thermal phonons. Brillouin scattering rates and coupling constants between ring resonators and the waveguide form the matrix. The system allows for parallel computations in frequency band.
Analog coprocessors for neural networks are an intensively developing field. They provide approximate results of computations for relatively low energy cost and at high speed. We show that a set of ring resonators with Brillouin interaction between photons and phonons, being coupled to a waveguide, can be used to implement matrix-vector multiplication. The input vector is formed by occupancies of the anti-Stokes optical modes pumped via spontaneous Brillouin scattering, i.e, scattering on thermal phonons. Brillouin scattering rates and coupling constants between ring resonators and the waveguide form the matrix. The system allows for parallel computations in frequency band.
Analog coprocessors are intensively developing nowadays with the aim to optimize energy computations of neural networks. In this work we focus on the possibility of using detection of collective oscillations in optical systems for computational purposes. We show that in a system of coupled resonators, collective oscillations can be used to implement matrix-vector multiplication. The matrix is formed by the coupling constants between the resonators, and the input vector is formed by the initial occupancies of the involved modes. The frequency of the collective oscillations is growing with the number of the involved modes, similarly to Rabi oscillations. The time needed for their detection, i.e., averaging, decreases with an increase in the input vector dimension. We discuss the limitations imposed on parallel computation in the system by restriction of the allowed optical frequency band.
We report a comprehensive experimental study of spontaneous Brillouin scattering in a few-mode optical fiber, resolving both forward and backward scattering processes for intra- and inter-modal interactions. Using heterodyne detection, Stokes and anti-Stokes components without external acoustic excitation are observed and quantitatively extracted Brillouin shifts, linewidths, and gain coefficients. Forward scattering is mediated by guided torsional-radial acoustic modes with frequencies ranging from MHz to GHz, while backward scattering involves longitudinal core-guided modes at frequencies of tens of GHz. These results provide calibrated benchmarks for Brillouin interactions in few-mode fibers, offering insights relevant to phonon-based quantum applications and mode-selective optomechanics.
Storage and retrieval of optical quantum states are key elements for the realization of quantum communication and quantum networks. Here, we propose to realize a memory for light states in Brillouin-active waveguides. It is achieved by transferring quantum states between optical photons and acoustic phonons via Brillouin anti-Stokes scattering. By controlling the optoacoustic interaction with pulsed pumps, we demonstrate that it is possible to write, store, and read out of optical quantum states with high fidelity in state-of-the-art Brillouin-active waveguides.
Entanglement in hybrid quantum systems comprised of fundamentally different degrees of freedom, such as light and mechanics, is of interest for a wide range of applications in quantum technologies. Here, we propose to engineer bipartite entanglement between traveling acoustic phonons in a Brillouin active solid state system and the accompanying light wave. The effect is achieved by applying optical pump pulses to state-of-the-art waveguides, exciting a Brillouin Stokes process. This pulsed approach, in a system operating in a regime orthogonal to standard optomechanical setups, allows for the generation of entangled photon-phonon pairs, resilient to thermal fluctuations. We propose an experimental platform where readout of the optoacoustics entanglement is done by the simultaneous detection of Stokes and anti-Stokes photons in a two-pump configuration. The proposed mechanism presents an important feature in that it does not require initial preparation of the quantum ground state of the phonon mode.
Raman scattering as a candidate for photon-pair generation is explored recently both theoretically and experimentally. Here, we systematically analyze the Stokes–anti-Stokes photon-pair generation in Raman scattering, akin signal–idler photon-pair emission in the spontaneous parametric down conversion, to obtain suitable conditions for photon-pair generation. Non-zero mean phonon number and losses in the phonon mode are observed to be relevant parameters in this context in addition to the Raman active material properties and pump power. Specifically, the Raman active materials with stronger anti-Stokes coupling compared to the Stokes coupling constant are suitable for photon-pair generation. Ideal Stokes–anti-Stokes photon-pair generation is possible even for non-zero thermal phonons provided that the phonon losses are negligible. Here, we characterized the performance of photon-pair generation using noise-reduction parameter in detail. We also discuss the effect of phonon losses on the observed non-classical features.
With the development of quantum optics, photon correlations acquired a prominent role as a tool to test our understanding of physics, and played a key role in verifying the validity of quantum mechanics. The spatial and temporal correlations in a light field also reveal information about its origin, and allow us to probe the nature of the physical systems interacting with it. Additionally, with the advent of quantum technologies, they have acquired technological relevance, as they are expected to play an important role in quantum communication and quantum information processing. This thesis develops techniques that combine spontaneous Raman scattering with Time Correlated Single Photon Counting, and uses them to study the quantum mechanical nature of high frequency vibrations in crystals and molecules. We demonstrate photon bunching in the Stokes and anti-Stokes fields scattered from two ultrafast laser pulses, and use their cross-correlation to measure the 3.9 ps decay time of the optical phonon in diamond. We then employ this method to measure molecular vibrations in CS2, where we are able to excite the respective vibrational modes of the two isotopic species present in the sample in a coherent superposition, and observe quantum beating between the two signals. Stokes scattering, when combined with a projective measurement, leads to a well defined quantum state. We demonstrate this by measuring the second order correlation function of the anti-Stokes field conditional on detecting one or more photons in the Stokes field, which allows us to observe a phonon modeâ s transition form a thermal state into the first excited Fock state, and measure its decay over the characteristic phonon lifetime. Finally, we use this technique to prepare a highly entangled photon-phonon state, which violates a Bell-type inequality. We measure S = 2.360 ± 0.025, violating the CHSH inequality, compatible with the non-locality of the state. The techniques we developed open the door to the study of a broad range of physical systems, where spectroscopic information is obtained with the preparation of specific quantum states. They also hold potential for future technological use, and promote vibrational Raman scattering to a resource in nonlinear quantum optics -- where it used to be considered as a source of noise instead.