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

Interaction of nanofiber-guided light with a warm atomic vapor

Daniel E. Jones

Published Jan 1, 2016• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Systems allowing controllable photon-atom interactions are becoming increasingly important for quantum communication applications. One promising platform involves the interaction of the tightly-confined evanescent mode of an optical nanofiber with surrounding atoms. This dissertation will overview our work on the interaction of nanofiber-guided light with a warm rubidium vapor. In comparison to related work with cold atom clouds or trapped atoms, the "warm atom-nanofiber" system is fairly robust but operates in a regime where motional effects of the atoms are significant. We will first discuss a detailed study of saturated absorption in this system, with an emphasis on the role of motional effects in hyperfine pumping rates and various line broadening mechanisms. The power needed to saturate the system is essentially a measure of the system?s capability to enable nonlinear optical interactions of the kind that are needed for quantum communication applications, and we observe remarkably ultralow saturation powers of 10?s of nW (corresponding to only ?10 photons passing through the nanofiber at a given time). We then utilize this strong nonlinearity to demonstrate 3-level ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and all-optical modulation with ultralow control-field powers on the order of only a few ?W. Finally, we discuss a novel nanofiber-segment nonlinear ring resonator comprised of a large loop of conventional single-mode fiber with a short nanofiber segment surrounded by a warm rubidium vapor. In this device, the cavity enhanced evanescent field of the nanofiber enables even stronger photon-atom interactions.

DOI
10.13016/m2pvra-zswg

Related papers

Ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency using nanofiber-guided light in a warm atomic vapor

Daniel E. Jones, J. D. Franson, T. B. Pittman

We demonstrate ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) using an optical nanofiber suspended in a warm rubidium vapor. The signal and control fields are both guided along the nanofiber, which enables strong nonlinear interactions with the surrounding atoms at relatively low powers. Transit-time broadening is found to be a significant EIT decoherence mechanism in this tightly confined waveguiding geometry. Nonetheless, we observe significant EIT and controlled polarization rotation using control-field powers of only a few microwatts in this relatively robust warm-atom nanofiber system.

arXiv:1507.05601•Physical Review A•Oct 5, 2015•33 citations

Super-extended nanofiber-guided field for coherent interaction with hot atoms

Ran Finkelstein, Gal Winer, David Zeev Koplovich +8 more

We fabricate an extremely thin optical fiber that supports a super-extended mode with a diameter as large as 13 times the optical wavelength, residing almost entirely outside the fiber and guided over thousands of wavelengths (5 mm), to couple guided light to warm atomic vapor. This unique configuration balances between strong confinement, as evident by saturation powers as low as tens of nW, and long interaction times with the thermal atoms, thereby enabling fast and coherent interactions. We demonstrate narrow coherent resonances (tens of MHz) of electromagnetically induced transparency for signals at the single-photon level and long relaxation times (10 ns) of atoms excited by the guided mode. The dimensions of the guided mode’s evanescent field are compatible with the Rydberg blockade mechanism, making this platform particularly suitable for observing quantum nonlinear optics phenomena.

arXiv:2010.08935•Optica•Jan 6, 2021•16 citations

Nanofiber-segment ring resonator

Daniel E. Jones, Garrett Hickman, J. D. Franson +1 more

We describe a fiber ring resonator comprised of a relatively long loop of standard single-mode fiber with a short nanofiber segment. The evanescent mode of the nanofiber segment allows the cavity-enhanced field to interact with atoms in close proximity to the nanofiber surface. We report on an experiment using a warm atomic vapor and low-finesse cavity, and briefly discuss the potential for reaching the strong coupling regime of cavity QED by using trapped atoms and a high-finesse cavity of this kind.

arXiv:1605.08921•Optics Letters•Jul 29, 2016•15 citations

Observation of Nonlinear Optical Interactions of Ultralow Levels of Light in a Tapered Optical Nanofiber Embedded in a Hot Rubidium Vapor

S. M. Spillane, G. S. Pati, K. Salit +4 more

We report the observation of low-light level optical interactions in a tapered optical nanofiber (TNF) embedded in a hot rubidium vapor. The small optical mode area plays a significant role in the optical properties of the hot vapor Rb-TNF system, allowing nonlinear optical interactions with nW level powers even in the presence of transit-time dephasing rates much larger than the intrinsic linewidth. We demonstrate nonlinear absorption and V-type electromagnetically induced transparency with cw powers below 10 nW, comparable to the best results in any Rb-optical waveguide system. The good performance and flexibility of the Rb-TNF system makes it a very promising candidate for ultralow power resonant nonlinear optical applications.

Physical Review Letters•Jun 11, 2008•147 citations

Atom-trapping and photon-counting experiments with optical nanofibers

Jeffrey A. Grover

New effects can arise in quantum physics when there is strong coupling, either between atoms and light or between different quantum systems. This thesis examines an optical nanofiber atom trap as a mediator of atom-light interactions and a potential element of a hybrid quantum system. The evanescent field around the sub-wavelength waist of an optical nanofiber possesses a small mode area that increases the cooperativity between atoms and the mode, in a manner analogous to traditional cavity QED. We demonstrate trapping of $^{87}$Rb atoms with an optical nanofiber, confining hundreds of atoms with typical trap lifetimes of tens of milliseconds. We then employ single photon counting techniques to study untrapped ensembles of cold atoms around the nanofiber. A first experiment uses intensity autocorrelations of resonance fluorescence emitted into the nanofiber mode to observe a transition from classical to nonclassical photon statistics. Measuring the correlations on longer timescales reveals the motion of atoms through the optical mode, and we develop a correspondence between the transit time and atomic cloud temperature. A second experiment measures Purcell enhancement of spontaneous emission of atoms near the nanofiber by correlating their fluorescence with a known trigger event. The spontaneous decay rate of an atom near a dielectric is modified by the induced dipole and by a change in the modes of the vacuum electromagnetic field. Our observed enhancement of $6.5\pm0.9\%$ over the free-space rate matches well with what one finds from mode simulations in our system.

•Jan 1, 2015•2 citations

Nanofiber quantum photonics

K. P. Nayak, Mark Sadgrove, Ramachandrarao Yalla +2 more

Abstract Recent advances in the coherent control of single quanta of light, photons , is a topic of prime interest, and is discussed under the banner of quantum photonics . In the last decade, the subwavelength diameter waist of a tapered optical fiber, referred to as an optical nanofiber , has opened promising new avenues in the field of quantum optics, paving the way toward a versatile platform for quantum photonics applications. The key feature of the technique is that the optical field can be tightly confined in the transverse direction while propagating over long distances as a guided mode and enabling strong interaction with the surrounding medium in the evanescent region. This feature has led to surprising possibilities to manipulate single atoms and fiber-guided photons, e.g. the efficient channeling of emission from single atoms and solid-state quantum emitters into the fiber-guided modes, high optical depth with a few atoms around the nanofiber, trapping atoms around a nanofiber, and atomic memories for fiber-guided photons. Furthermore, implementing a moderate longitudinal confinement in nanofiber cavities has enabled the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics to be reached, and the long-range dipole–dipole interaction between quantum emitters mediated by the nanofiber offers a platform for quantum nonlinear optics with an ensemble of atoms. In addition, the presence of a longitudinal component of the guided field has led to unique capabilities for chiral light–matter interactions on nanofibers. In this article, we review the key developments of the nanofiber technology toward a vision for quantum photonics on an all-fiber interface.

Journal of Optics•May 9, 2018•127 citations
Systems allowing controllable photon-atom interactions are becoming increasingly important for quantum communication applications. One promising platform involves the interaction of the tightly-confined evanescent mode of an optical nanofiber with surrounding atoms. This dissertation will overview our work on the interaction of nanofiber-guided light with a warm rubidium vapor. In comparison to related work with cold atom clouds or trapped atoms, the "warm atom-nanofiber" system is fairly robust but operates in a regime where motional effects of the atoms are significant. We will first discuss a detailed study of saturated absorption in this system, with an emphasis on the role of motional effects in hyperfine pumping rates and various line broadening mechanisms. The power needed to saturate the system is essentially a measure of the system?s capability to enable nonlinear optical interactions of the kind that are needed for quantum communication applications, and we observe remarkably ultralow saturation powers of 10?s of nW (corresponding to only ?10 photons passing through the nanofiber at a given time). We then utilize this strong nonlinearity to demonstrate 3-level ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and all-optical modulation with ultralow control-field powers on the order of only a few ?W. Finally, we discuss a novel nanofiber-segment nonlinear ring resonator comprised of a large loop of conventional single-mode fiber with a short nanofiber segment surrounded by a warm rubidium vapor. In this device, the cavity enhanced evanescent field of the nanofiber enables even stronger photon-atom interactions.
We demonstrate ladder-type electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) using an optical nanofiber suspended in a warm rubidium vapor. The signal and control fields are both guided along the nanofiber, which enables strong nonlinear interactions with the surrounding atoms at relatively low powers. Transit-time broadening is found to be a significant EIT decoherence mechanism in this tightly confined waveguiding geometry. Nonetheless, we observe significant EIT and controlled polarization rotation using control-field powers of only a few microwatts in this relatively robust warm-atom nanofiber system.
We fabricate an extremely thin optical fiber that supports a super-extended mode with a diameter as large as 13 times the optical wavelength, residing almost entirely outside the fiber and guided over thousands of wavelengths (5 mm), to couple guided light to warm atomic vapor. This unique configuration balances between strong confinement, as evident by saturation powers as low as tens of nW, and long interaction times with the thermal atoms, thereby enabling fast and coherent interactions. We demonstrate narrow coherent resonances (tens of MHz) of electromagnetically induced transparency for signals at the single-photon level and long relaxation times (10 ns) of atoms excited by the guided mode. The dimensions of the guided mode’s evanescent field are compatible with the Rydberg blockade mechanism, making this platform particularly suitable for observing quantum nonlinear optics phenomena.
We describe a fiber ring resonator comprised of a relatively long loop of standard single-mode fiber with a short nanofiber segment. The evanescent mode of the nanofiber segment allows the cavity-enhanced field to interact with atoms in close proximity to the nanofiber surface. We report on an experiment using a warm atomic vapor and low-finesse cavity, and briefly discuss the potential for reaching the strong coupling regime of cavity QED by using trapped atoms and a high-finesse cavity of this kind.
We report the observation of low-light level optical interactions in a tapered optical nanofiber (TNF) embedded in a hot rubidium vapor. The small optical mode area plays a significant role in the optical properties of the hot vapor Rb-TNF system, allowing nonlinear optical interactions with nW level powers even in the presence of transit-time dephasing rates much larger than the intrinsic linewidth. We demonstrate nonlinear absorption and V-type electromagnetically induced transparency with cw powers below 10 nW, comparable to the best results in any Rb-optical waveguide system. The good performance and flexibility of the Rb-TNF system makes it a very promising candidate for ultralow power resonant nonlinear optical applications.
New effects can arise in quantum physics when there is strong coupling, either between atoms and light or between different quantum systems. This thesis examines an optical nanofiber atom trap as a mediator of atom-light interactions and a potential element of a hybrid quantum system. The evanescent field around the sub-wavelength waist of an optical nanofiber possesses a small mode area that increases the cooperativity between atoms and the mode, in a manner analogous to traditional cavity QED. We demonstrate trapping of 87^{87}87Rb atoms with an optical nanofiber, confining hundreds of atoms with typical trap lifetimes of tens of milliseconds. We then employ single photon counting techniques to study untrapped ensembles of cold atoms around the nanofiber. A first experiment uses intensity autocorrelations of resonance fluorescence emitted into the nanofiber mode to observe a transition from classical to nonclassical photon statistics. Measuring the correlations on longer timescales reveals the motion of atoms through the optical mode, and we develop a correspondence between the transit time and atomic cloud temperature. A second experiment measures Purcell enhancement of spontaneous emission of atoms near the nanofiber by correlating their fluorescence with a known trigger event. The spontaneous decay rate of an atom near a dielectric is modified by the induced dipole and by a change in the modes of the vacuum electromagnetic field. Our observed enhancement of 6.5±0.9%6.5\pm0.9\%6.5±0.9% over the free-space rate matches well with what one finds from mode simulations in our system.
Abstract Recent advances in the coherent control of single quanta of light, photons , is a topic of prime interest, and is discussed under the banner of quantum photonics . In the last decade, the subwavelength diameter waist of a tapered optical fiber, referred to as an optical nanofiber , has opened promising new avenues in the field of quantum optics, paving the way toward a versatile platform for quantum photonics applications. The key feature of the technique is that the optical field can be tightly confined in the transverse direction while propagating over long distances as a guided mode and enabling strong interaction with the surrounding medium in the evanescent region. This feature has led to surprising possibilities to manipulate single atoms and fiber-guided photons, e.g. the efficient channeling of emission from single atoms and solid-state quantum emitters into the fiber-guided modes, high optical depth with a few atoms around the nanofiber, trapping atoms around a nanofiber, and atomic memories for fiber-guided photons. Furthermore, implementing a moderate longitudinal confinement in nanofiber cavities has enabled the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics to be reached, and the long-range dipole–dipole interaction between quantum emitters mediated by the nanofiber offers a platform for quantum nonlinear optics with an ensemble of atoms. In addition, the presence of a longitudinal component of the guided field has led to unique capabilities for chiral light–matter interactions on nanofibers. In this article, we review the key developments of the nanofiber technology toward a vision for quantum photonics on an all-fiber interface.