Overview : Quantum Optical Devices

Alberto Barchielli, Matteo Gregoratti

Tie Wang

Devices based on the optical microcavities which confne light to small volumes by resonant recirculation are already indispensable for a wide range of studies and applications. This article provides an overview of the development and application of optical microcavities. We frst give a pedagogical introduction to the interaction between a two-level system and a quantized electromagnetic feld in the cavity, based on the so-called Jaynes-Cummings model, which is basic and important theory model in the cavity quantum electrodynamics,and various quantum phenomena and applications of it. Then, we overview three basic types of the microcavity structures, and also highlight the progress achieved so far in these systems. Based on these three structures,we give an account of three representative applications of optical microcavities, and explain their microcavity requirements and the state of the art for these devices, before outlining the challenges for the future.

Andrei Faraon

In this talk I give an overview of our recent work on quantum nano-photonic devices based on rare-earth ions. The rare-earth ions exhibit excellent optical and spin coherence properties when embedded in nano-photonic devices. This enables on-chip optical quantum memories, single rare-earth-ion optically addressable quantum bits, and devices for quantum transduction. I will focus on our recent results based on ytterbium 171 in yttrium orthovanadate.

S. Ya. Kilin

Daniel F. V. James

I will give an introductory overview of current experimental techniques used to characterize the density matrix of a system and the quantum process describing a device, with emphasis on applications in quantum optics.