Enhanced quantum light generation

Jonny Roberts, Robert James Young

Alberto M. Marino

We study the use of quantum states of light generated with an atomic system to enhance the sensitivity of plasmonic sensors. We show a quantum-based sensitivity enhancement of 56% with transmission-based measurements and analyze the use of phase-based measurements for further enhancements.

S. Chua

D. Habibović, Dejan B. Milošević

We study strong-field ionization by quantum lights with emphasis on high-order above-threshold ionization and the intensity-dependent enhancements in the photoelectron spectra. We find that the length of the plateau in the photoelectron energy spectrum generated by such quantum lights can be extended by an order of magnitude in comparison with that generated by the classical coherent laser light and that within this plateau resonantly enhanced groups of sharp peaks appear at energies which are integer multiple of the photon energy. We relate the observed intensity-dependent enhancements to the channel closing effect. Our results are particularly interesting in the context of the recent interplay and merging of quantum optics with strong-field physics and attoscience.

Alessandro Zavatta, Valentina Parigi, Marco Bellini

We demonstrate the generation of multiphoton quantum states of light by cavity-enhanced parametric down-conversion in the high-repetition-rate pulsed regime. An external enhancement cavity resonant with the spectral comb of modes of a mode-locked pump laser provides a coherent buildup of the pump intensity and greatly enhances the parametric gain without sacrificing its high repetition rate and comb structure. We probe the parametric gain enhancement by the conditional generation and tomographic analysis of two-photon Fock states. Besides its potential impact for efficiently generating highly nonclassical or entangled multiphoton states in many existing experimental setups, this scheme opens exciting perspectives toward the combination of quantum and comb technologies for enhanced measurements and advanced quantum computation protocols.

Stephen G. Benka