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Quantum Nanophotonic Materials, Devices, and Systems

Controlling quantum interference using metamaterials

Nooshin M. Estakhri, Theodore B. Norris

Published Sep 3, 2019• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Metamaterials are presented as a suitable platform to implement controllable constructive and destructive quantum interference. We investigate general lossy asymmetric and unbalanced 2x2 networks to realize nonclassical multiphoton interference effects. A design roadmap for achieving maximum programmability while setting a limit on the minimum value of quantum interference baseline counts is also reported. Specifically, we explore the capabilities of metasurfaces (2D alternates for metamaterials), by engineering the local interaction of light and matter at the subwavelength scale for realizing quantum interference, and conclude that metamaterials are a versatile platform for experiments on the foundations of quantum mechanics such as quantum coalescence effects.

DOI
10.1117/12.2529809

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Optics Express•Nov 10, 2008•30 citations
Metamaterials are presented as a suitable platform to implement controllable constructive and destructive quantum interference. We investigate general lossy asymmetric and unbalanced 2x2 networks to realize nonclassical multiphoton interference effects. A design roadmap for achieving maximum programmability while setting a limit on the minimum value of quantum interference baseline counts is also reported. Specifically, we explore the capabilities of metasurfaces (2D alternates for metamaterials), by engineering the local interaction of light and matter at the subwavelength scale for realizing quantum interference, and conclude that metamaterials are a versatile platform for experiments on the foundations of quantum mechanics such as quantum coalescence effects.
The ability of phase-change materials to reversibly and rapidly switch between two stable phases has driven their use in a number of applications such as data storage and optical modulators. Incorporating such materials into metasurfaces enables new approaches to the control of optical fields. In this article we present the design of novel switchable metasurfaces that enable the control of the nonclassical two-photon quantum interference. These structures require no static power consumption, operate at room temperature, and have high switching speed. For the first adaptive metasurface presented in this article, tunable nonclassical two-photon interference from -97.7% (anti-coalescence) to 75.48% (coalescence) is predicted. For the second adaptive geometry, the quantum interference switches from -59.42% (anti-coalescence) to 86.09% (coalescence) upon a thermally driven crystallographic phase transition. The development of compact and rapidly controllable quantum devices is opening up promising paths to brand-new quantum applications as well as the possibility of improving free space quantum logic gates, linear-optics bell experiments, and quantum phase estimation systems.
Beamsplitters represent fundamental components in both classical and quantum optical systems, enabling the distribution of light, as well as the generation of interference, superposition and entanglement. However, optical networks constructed from conventional bulk 2x2-beamsplitters encounter inherent scalability issues, as the number of required beamsplitters scales quadratically with the number of optical modes for a fully connected network. Metasurfaces offer a promising route to overcome these constraints. By manipulating light at the wavelength scale compact optical components with advanced functionalities can be constructed, which address several modes simultaneously. In this work, we design and experimentally utilize a metasurface as a multiport beamsplitter. Furthermore, we realize a multimode interferometer composed of two cascaded metasurfaces. We characterize the individual and cascaded metasurfaces using classical light, showing controllable splitting ratios through tunable phase relations. We then expand the approach to quantum light, employing single photons to demonstrate second- and third-order photon correlations, as well as single photon interference across multiple spatial paths. These results establish metasurface-based multiport beamsplitters as a scalable and reconfigurable platform bridging classical and quantum photonics.
Metasurfaces based on resonant nanophotonic structures have enabled innovative types of flat-optics devices that often outperform the capabilities of bulk components, yet these advances remain largely unexplored for quantum applications. We show that nonclassical multiphoton interferences can be achieved at the subwavelength scale in all-dielectric metasurfaces. We simultaneously image multiple projections of quantum states with a single metasurface, enabling a robust reconstruction of amplitude, phase, coherence, and entanglement of multiphoton polarization-encoded states. One- and two-photon states are reconstructed through nonlocal photon correlation measurements with polarization-insensitive click detectors positioned after the metasurface, and the scalability to higher photon numbers is established theoretically. Our work illustrates the feasibility of ultrathin quantum metadevices for the manipulation and measurement of multiphoton quantum states, with applications in free-space quantum imaging and communications.
An anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) opens novel pathways for controlling light-matter interaction in quantum optics, condensed matter physics, etc. Here, we theoretically demonstrate a strong AQV over macroscopic distances enabled by a judiciously designed array of subwavelength-scale nanoantennas-a metasurface. We harness the phase-control ability and the polarization-dependent response of the metasurface to achieve strong anisotropy in the decay rate of a quantum emitter located over distances of hundreds of wavelengths. Such an AQV induces quantum interference among radiative decay channels in an atom with orthogonal transitions. Quantum vacuum engineering with metasurfaces holds promise for exploring new paradigms of long-range light-matter interaction for atom optics, solid-state quantum optics, quantum information processing, etc.
The ability to efficiently control optical quantum interference by the same device is a challenging task that promises to enable key operations in quantum information processing. Here, we tackle this problem by presenting a composite quantum plasmonic metasurface operating as an ultrathin non-unitary beamsplitter capable of achieving both single photon bosonic bunching and fermionic anti-bunching interference just by varying the incident photons frequency or changing the design dimensions. The presented metasurface combines a plasmonic grating corrugated by periodic nanoslits that can achieve extraordinary optical transmission with additional nanostripes on top forming nanocavities characterized by localized gap plasmon resonances. The photon-photon interactions are analyzed based on calculating the quantum coalescence metric which accurately portrays the obtained bunching or anti-bunching quantum interference. The presented quantum interference operation is applicable to both fundamental non-classical light interactions and in the design of more applied quantum optical logic gates used in quantum computing and communications.
Two independent significant developments have challenged our understanding of light-matter interaction, one, involves the artificially structured materials known as metamaterials, and the other, relates to the coherent control of quantum systems via the quantum interference route. We theoretically demonstrate that one can engineer the electromagnetic response of composite metamaterials using coherent quantum interference effects. In particular, we predict that these composite materials can show a variety of effects ranging from dramatic reduction of losses to switchable ultraslow-to-superluminal pulse propagation. We propose parametric control of the metamaterials by active tuning of the capacitance of the structures, which is most efficiently engineered by embedding the metamaterial structures within a coherent atomic/molecular medium. This leads to dramatic frequency dependent features, such as significantly reduced dissipation accompanied by enhanced filling fraction. For a Split-ring resonator medium with magnetic properties, the associated splitting of the negative permeability band can be exploited for narrow band switching applications at near infrared frequencies involving just a single layer of such composite metamaterials.