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Physical Review Letters

On-Demand Superradiant Conversion of Atomic Spin Gratings into Single Photons with High Efficiency

Adam T. Black, James K. Thompson, Vladan Vuletić

Published Sep 20, 2005• 90 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We create quantized spin gratings by single-photon detection and convert them on demand into photons with retrieval efficiencies exceeding 40% (80%) for single (a few) quanta. We show that the collective conversion process, proceeding via superradiant emission into a moderate-finesse optical resonator, requires phase matching. The storage time of 3 micros in the cold-atom sample, as well as the peak retrieval efficiency, are likely limited by Doppler decoherence of the entangled state.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.95.133601

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We create quantized spin gratings by single-photon detection and convert them on demand into photons with retrieval efficiencies exceeding 40% (80%) for single (a few) quanta. We show that the collective conversion process, proceeding via superradiant emission into a moderate-finesse optical resonator, requires phase matching. The storage time of 3 micros in the cold-atom sample, as well as the peak retrieval efficiency, are likely limited by Doppler decoherence of the entangled state.
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We demonstrate superradiant conversion between a two-mode collective atomic state and a single-mode light field in an elongated cloud of Bose-condensed atoms. Two off-resonant write beams induce superradiant Raman scattering, producing two independent coherence gratings with different wave vectors in the cloud. By applying phase-matched read beams after a controllable delay, the gratings can be selectively converted into the light field also in a superradiant way. Because of the large optical density and the small velocity width of the condensate, a high conversion efficiency of >70% and a long storage time of >120 micros were achieved.
An efficient quantum storage is highly desired for quantum information processing. As indicated by certain applications, a universal quantum storage is required to have a storage efficiency above 50% to beat the no-cloning limit. Although significant progress has been achieved in improving various quantum storage, the best storage efficiency of single photons is still below this criteria. By integrating a highly controllable single photon source with an optimized quantum storage, here we demonstrate an optical storage of single photons with storage efficiency of 65% in a cold atomic ensemble based on electromagnetically induced transparency. Meanwhile, the nonclassical characteristics of our storage are verified through the well-maintained nonclassical and single photon nature of the retrieved single photons.
We investigate in detail the optimal conditions for a high fidelity transfer from a single-polariton state to a single-photon state and subsequent homodyne detection of the single photon. We assume that, using various possible techniques, the single polariton has initially been stored as a spin-wave grating in a cloud of cold atoms inside a low-finesse cavity. This state is then transferred to a single-photon optical pulse using an auxiliary beam. We optimize the retrieval efficiency and determine the mode of the local oscillator that maximizes the homodyne efficiency of such a photon. We find that both efficiencies can have values close to one in a large region of experimental parameters.
Entanglement between a single photon and a quantum memory forms the building blocks for a quantum repeater and quantum network. Previous entanglement sources are typically with low retrieval efficiency, which limits future larger-scale applications. Here, we report a source of highly retrievable spin-wave-photon entanglement. Polarization entanglement is created through interaction of a single photon with an ensemble of atoms inside a low-finesse ring cavity. The cavity is engineered to be resonant for dual spin-wave modes, which thus enables efficient retrieval of the spin-wave qubit. An intrinsic retrieval efficiency up to 76(4)% has been observed. Such a highly retrievable atom-photon entanglement source will be very useful in future larger-scale quantum repeater and quantum network applications.
Superradiance is one of the most fundamental collective quantum phenomena in light-matter interactions and has been studied extensively since Dicke's seminal work. However, its practical implementation remains challenging because superradiant enhancement requires strict experiment conditions for strong collective coupling among emitters. Can superradiance emerge in a simple platform, such as an atomic vapor cell composed of thermally moving atoms? To address this question, we identify the key signatures of superradiance in a hot atomic ensemble and find a use case of superradiance using an atomic vapor cell. Here, the Photon-Pair SuperRadiance (PPSR) process in an atomic vapor cell provides a novel approach to generating superradiant quantum light from a practical atomic platform. We experimentally demonstrate a superradiant entangled photon-pair generation via PPSR process in a high-density, 1-mm-long chip-scale Cs vapor cell. The hot, dense atomic vapor cell allows the mean interatomic distance in the Doppler-broadened atomic ensemble to be reduced to 0.29 times the idler-photon wavelength, satisfying the condition for cooperative emission. The thin chip-scale geometry enables high atomic densities while mitigating the reabsorption of emitted photons and maintaining moderate optical depth. In this subwavelength regime, we clearly observe the temporal narrowing of the biphoton wavefunction from 0.60 ns to 0.17 ns due to a superradiant decay. This pronounced temporal compression provides strong evidence of collective superradiant emission in the chip-scale Cs vapor cell. Our PPSR source delivers a detected photon-pair rate exceeding 10^6 pairs/s while maintaining a high coincidence-to-accidental ratio of 280.