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

International Journal of Modern Physics B

TWO-PHOTON NONLINEAR INTERACTION MEDIATED BY CAVITY QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS SYSTEMS

Kazuki Koshino, Hajime Ishihara

Published Jul 20, 2006• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Exploiting the field-amplification effect of a cavity, the possibility of optical nonlinearity by only two photons was indicated experimentally. In the present article, we review our recent analysis of the two-photon dynamics in a cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) system. Since a cavity-QED system is highly dispersive around its resonances, the shapes of photonic pulses are significantly deformed through interaction with the system. Thus, the present analysis is based on a formalism beyond single-mode approximations. The external photon field is treated rigorously as a continuum, which enables us to handle the two-photon wavefunction in the space representation. The degree of optical nonlinearity in a two-photon state is quantified by comparing the output wavefunction with the linear output wavefunction. It is revealed that the semiclassical optical response theory can be applied for evaluation of the two-photon optical nonlinearity. The two-photon nonlinearity appears not purely as a phase shift in the output wavefunction. The degradation of the fidelity between the output wavefunction and the linear output wavefunction always occurs, which hinders the application of this nonlinear effect as a quantum phase gate. The optimum condition for maximizing the two-photon nonlinearity is clarified, suggesting that pulse shape control is more essential than the Q-value control of the cavity QED system.

DOI
10.1142/s0217979206034704

Related papers

Pulse-shape effects on photon-photon interactions in nonlinear optical quantum gates

Holger Friedrich Hofmann, Hitoshi Nishitani

Ideally, strong nonlinearities could be used to implement quantum gates for photonic qubits by well-controlled two-photon interactions. However, the dependence of the nonlinear interaction on frequency and time makes it difficult to preserve a coherent pulse shape that could justify a single-mode model for the time-frequency degree of freedom of the photons. In this paper, we analyze the problem of temporal multimode effects by considering the pulse shape of the average output field obtained from a coherent input pulse. It is shown that a significant part of the two-photon state transformation can be derived from this semiclassical description of the optical nonlinearity. The effect of a nonlinear system on a two-photon state can then be determined from the density-matrix dynamics of the coherently driven system using input-output theory. As an example, the resonant nonlinearity of a single two-level atom is characterized. The results indicate that the most efficient nonlinear effect may not be the widely studied single-mode phase shift, but the transfer of one of the photons to an orthogonal mode distinguished by its temporal and spectral properties.

arXiv:0905.1576•Physical Review A•Jul 23, 2009•9 citations

Interacting Photons in Waveguide-QED and Applications in Quantum Information Processing

Huaixiu Zheng

Strong coupling between light and matter has been demonstrated both in classical cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems and in more recent circuit-QED experiments. This enables the generation of strong nonlinear photon-photon interactions at the single-photon level, which is of great interest for the observation of quantum nonlinear optical phenomena, the control of light quanta in quantum information protocols such as quantum networking, as well as the study of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems using light. Recently, strong coupling has also been realized in a variety of one-dimensional (1D) waveguide- QED experimental systems, which in turn makes them promising candidates for quantum information processing. Compared to cavity-QED systems, there are two new features in waveguide-QED: the existence of a continuum of states and the restricted 1D phase space, which together bring in new physical effects, such as the bound-state effects. This thesis consists of two parts: 1) understanding the fundamental interaction between local quantum objects, such as two-level systems and four-level systems, and photons confined in the waveguide; 2) exploring its implications in quantum information processing, in particular photonic quantum computation and quantum key distribution. First, we demonstrate that by coupling a two-level system (TLS) or three/fourlevel system to a 1D continuum, strongly-correlated photons can be generated inside the waveguide. Photon-photon bound states, which decay exponentially as a function of the relative coordinates of photons, appear in multiphoton scattering processes. As a result, photon bunching and antibunching can be observed in the photon-photon correlation function, and nonclassical light source can be generated on demand. In the case of an N-type four-level system, we show that the effective photon-photon interaction mediated by the four-level system, gives rise to a variety of nonlinear optical phenomena, including photon blockade, photon-induced tunneling, and creation of single-photon states and photon pairs with a high degree of spectral entanglement, all in the absence of a cavity. However, to enable greater quantum networking potential using waveguide- QED, it is important to study systems having more than just one TLS/qubit. We develop a numerical Green function method to study cooperative effects in a system of two qubits coupled to a 1D waveguide. Quantum beats emerge in photon-photon correlations, and persist to much longer time scales because of non-Markovian processes. In addition, this system can be used to generate a high-degree of long-distance entanglement when one of the two qubits is driven by an on-resonance laser, further paving the way toward waveguide-QED-based quantum networks. Furthermore, based on our study of light-matter interactions in waveguide- QED, we investigate its implications in quantum information processing. First, we study quantum key distribution using the sub-Possonian single photon source obtained by scattering a coherent state off a two-level system. The rate for key generation is found to be twice as large as for other sources. Second, we propose a new scheme for scalable quantum computation using flying qubits--propagating photons in a one-dimensional waveguide--interacting with matter qubits. Photonphoton interactions are mediated by the coupling to a three- or four-level system, based on which photon-photon -phase gates (Controlled-NOT) can be implemented for universal quantum computation. We show that high gate fidelity is possible given recent dramatic experimental progress in superconducting circuits and photonic-crystal waveguides. The proposed system can be an important building block for future on-chip quantum networks.

•Jan 1, 2013•1 citation

Photon-photon interactions in dynamically coupled cavities

Mikkel Heuck, Kurt A. Jacobs, Dirk Englund

We study theoretically the interaction between two photons in a nonlinear cavity. The photons are absorbed into the cavity by an effective tuning of its input-output coupling via external control of a coupling to a second, strongly output-coupled cavity mode. Such ``dynamically coupled'' cavities, which can be implemented using bulk ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ nonlinearities, enable incoming photon wave packets to be absorbed into the cavity with high fidelity when the duration of the control is similar to that of the wave packets. Further, this configuration can be used to avoid limitations in the photon-photon interaction time set by the delay-bandwidth product of passive cavities and enables the elimination of wave-packet distortions caused by dispersive cavity transmission and reflection. We consider three kinds of nonlinearities, two arising from ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ materials and one due to an interaction with a two-level emitter. To analyze the input and output of few-photon wave packets, we use a Schr\"odinger-picture formalism in which traveling-wave fields are discretized into infinitesimal time bins. We suggest that dynamically coupled cavities provide a very useful tool for improving the performance of quantum devices relying on cavity-enhanced light-matter interactions such as single-photon sources and atomlike quantum memories with photon interfaces. As an example, we present simulation results showing that high-fidelity two-qubit entangling gates may be constructed using any of the considered nonlinear interactions.

arXiv:1905.02134•Physical Review A•Apr 20, 2020•38 citations

Nanodot-Cavity Electrodynamics and Photon Entanglement

Wang Yao, Ren‐Bao Liu, Lu Jeu Sham

Quantum electrodynamics of excitons in a cavity is shown to be relevant to quantum operations. We present a theory of an integrable solid-state quantum controlled-phase gate for generating entanglement of two photons using a coupled nanodot-microcavity-fiber structure. A conditional phase shift of O(pi/10) is calculated to be the consequence of the giant optical nonlinearity keyed by the excitons in the cavities. Structural design and active control, such as electromagnetically induced transparency and pulse shaping, optimize the quantum efficiency of the gate operation.

arXiv:cond-mat/0312272•Physical Review Letters•May 27, 2004•31 citations

Competing three-photon and one-photon transitions in cavity quantum electrodynamics

Iyyanki V. Jyotsna, G. S. Agarwal

We examine a model of two-channel cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) consisting of three-photon and one-photon absorption processes, i.e., we present a cavity-QED version of a nonlinear optical balance. We give detailed numerical results for the evolution of the atomic populations and the number of photons at the fundamental and third harmonic frequencies. We also show the behavior of the system if the fields are treated semiclassically, and we find the quantum effects to be rather dominant.

Physical Review A•Aug 1, 1994•15 citations

Evaluation of Two-Photon Nonlinearity by a Semiclassical Method

Kazuki Koshino, Hajime Ishihara

In order to discuss the two-photon nonlinearity theoretically, both photons and nonlinear materials should be treated quantum mechanically, which usually is a heavy theoretical task. Contrarily, nonlinear optics for classical light has been developed well and a detailed analysis is possible for realistic complex nonlinear systems. Here we show that the two-photon nonlinearity can be evaluated from the linear and third-order nonlinear output fields against a classical input pulse, which contains 2(-1/2) photons on average.

Physical Review Letters•Oct 19, 2004•28 citations
Exploiting the field-amplification effect of a cavity, the possibility of optical nonlinearity by only two photons was indicated experimentally. In the present article, we review our recent analysis of the two-photon dynamics in a cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) system. Since a cavity-QED system is highly dispersive around its resonances, the shapes of photonic pulses are significantly deformed through interaction with the system. Thus, the present analysis is based on a formalism beyond single-mode approximations. The external photon field is treated rigorously as a continuum, which enables us to handle the two-photon wavefunction in the space representation. The degree of optical nonlinearity in a two-photon state is quantified by comparing the output wavefunction with the linear output wavefunction. It is revealed that the semiclassical optical response theory can be applied for evaluation of the two-photon optical nonlinearity. The two-photon nonlinearity appears not purely as a phase shift in the output wavefunction. The degradation of the fidelity between the output wavefunction and the linear output wavefunction always occurs, which hinders the application of this nonlinear effect as a quantum phase gate. The optimum condition for maximizing the two-photon nonlinearity is clarified, suggesting that pulse shape control is more essential than the Q-value control of the cavity QED system.
Ideally, strong nonlinearities could be used to implement quantum gates for photonic qubits by well-controlled two-photon interactions. However, the dependence of the nonlinear interaction on frequency and time makes it difficult to preserve a coherent pulse shape that could justify a single-mode model for the time-frequency degree of freedom of the photons. In this paper, we analyze the problem of temporal multimode effects by considering the pulse shape of the average output field obtained from a coherent input pulse. It is shown that a significant part of the two-photon state transformation can be derived from this semiclassical description of the optical nonlinearity. The effect of a nonlinear system on a two-photon state can then be determined from the density-matrix dynamics of the coherently driven system using input-output theory. As an example, the resonant nonlinearity of a single two-level atom is characterized. The results indicate that the most efficient nonlinear effect may not be the widely studied single-mode phase shift, but the transfer of one of the photons to an orthogonal mode distinguished by its temporal and spectral properties.
Strong coupling between light and matter has been demonstrated both in classical cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems and in more recent circuit-QED experiments. This enables the generation of strong nonlinear photon-photon interactions at the single-photon level, which is of great interest for the observation of quantum nonlinear optical phenomena, the control of light quanta in quantum information protocols such as quantum networking, as well as the study of strongly correlated quantum many-body systems using light. Recently, strong coupling has also been realized in a variety of one-dimensional (1D) waveguide- QED experimental systems, which in turn makes them promising candidates for quantum information processing. Compared to cavity-QED systems, there are two new features in waveguide-QED: the existence of a continuum of states and the restricted 1D phase space, which together bring in new physical effects, such as the bound-state effects. This thesis consists of two parts: 1) understanding the fundamental interaction between local quantum objects, such as two-level systems and four-level systems, and photons confined in the waveguide; 2) exploring its implications in quantum information processing, in particular photonic quantum computation and quantum key distribution. First, we demonstrate that by coupling a two-level system (TLS) or three/fourlevel system to a 1D continuum, strongly-correlated photons can be generated inside the waveguide. Photon-photon bound states, which decay exponentially as a function of the relative coordinates of photons, appear in multiphoton scattering processes. As a result, photon bunching and antibunching can be observed in the photon-photon correlation function, and nonclassical light source can be generated on demand. In the case of an N-type four-level system, we show that the effective photon-photon interaction mediated by the four-level system, gives rise to a variety of nonlinear optical phenomena, including photon blockade, photon-induced tunneling, and creation of single-photon states and photon pairs with a high degree of spectral entanglement, all in the absence of a cavity. However, to enable greater quantum networking potential using waveguide- QED, it is important to study systems having more than just one TLS/qubit. We develop a numerical Green function method to study cooperative effects in a system of two qubits coupled to a 1D waveguide. Quantum beats emerge in photon-photon correlations, and persist to much longer time scales because of non-Markovian processes. In addition, this system can be used to generate a high-degree of long-distance entanglement when one of the two qubits is driven by an on-resonance laser, further paving the way toward waveguide-QED-based quantum networks. Furthermore, based on our study of light-matter interactions in waveguide- QED, we investigate its implications in quantum information processing. First, we study quantum key distribution using the sub-Possonian single photon source obtained by scattering a coherent state off a two-level system. The rate for key generation is found to be twice as large as for other sources. Second, we propose a new scheme for scalable quantum computation using flying qubits--propagating photons in a one-dimensional waveguide--interacting with matter qubits. Photonphoton interactions are mediated by the coupling to a three- or four-level system, based on which photon-photon -phase gates (Controlled-NOT) can be implemented for universal quantum computation. We show that high gate fidelity is possible given recent dramatic experimental progress in superconducting circuits and photonic-crystal waveguides. The proposed system can be an important building block for future on-chip quantum networks.
We study theoretically the interaction between two photons in a nonlinear cavity. The photons are absorbed into the cavity by an effective tuning of its input-output coupling via external control of a coupling to a second, strongly output-coupled cavity mode. Such ``dynamically coupled'' cavities, which can be implemented using bulk ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ nonlinearities, enable incoming photon wave packets to be absorbed into the cavity with high fidelity when the duration of the control is similar to that of the wave packets. Further, this configuration can be used to avoid limitations in the photon-photon interaction time set by the delay-bandwidth product of passive cavities and enables the elimination of wave-packet distortions caused by dispersive cavity transmission and reflection. We consider three kinds of nonlinearities, two arising from ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ materials and one due to an interaction with a two-level emitter. To analyze the input and output of few-photon wave packets, we use a Schr\"odinger-picture formalism in which traveling-wave fields are discretized into infinitesimal time bins. We suggest that dynamically coupled cavities provide a very useful tool for improving the performance of quantum devices relying on cavity-enhanced light-matter interactions such as single-photon sources and atomlike quantum memories with photon interfaces. As an example, we present simulation results showing that high-fidelity two-qubit entangling gates may be constructed using any of the considered nonlinear interactions.
Quantum electrodynamics of excitons in a cavity is shown to be relevant to quantum operations. We present a theory of an integrable solid-state quantum controlled-phase gate for generating entanglement of two photons using a coupled nanodot-microcavity-fiber structure. A conditional phase shift of O(pi/10) is calculated to be the consequence of the giant optical nonlinearity keyed by the excitons in the cavities. Structural design and active control, such as electromagnetically induced transparency and pulse shaping, optimize the quantum efficiency of the gate operation.
In order to discuss the two-photon nonlinearity theoretically, both photons and nonlinear materials should be treated quantum mechanically, which usually is a heavy theoretical task. Contrarily, nonlinear optics for classical light has been developed well and a detailed analysis is possible for realistic complex nonlinear systems. Here we show that the two-photon nonlinearity can be evaluated from the linear and third-order nonlinear output fields against a classical input pulse, which contains 2(-1/2) photons on average.