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Applied Physics Letters

Coherent perfect absorption of single photons in a fiber network

Anton N. Vetlugin, Ruixiang Guo, Angelos Xomalis, Salih Yanikgonul, Giorgio Adamo, Cesare Soci, Nikolay I. Zheludev

Published Nov 4, 2019• 17 citations

Abstract

Large distance implementation of quantum communication technologies requires coherent control of single photons in optical fiber networks. Here we demonstrate the phenomenon of coherent perfect absorption of single photons in a fully fiberized ultrathin plasmonic metamaterial fabricated at the end facet of an optical fiber. Continuous control of single-photon absorption probability is achieved by driving the network between the regimes of coherent total absorption and coherent total transmission. To circumvent phase fluctuations inherent to optical fiber networks, we implemented a reference-based postselection technique which yielded interference fringe visibility comparable to that of free space experiments. Coherent absorption of quantum light in fiber environment provides new opportunities for dissipative single-photon switching, filtering, and measurement, as well as for manipulation of entangled, weak coherent, and NOON states in optical fiber networks.

DOI: 10.1063/1.5118838

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Large distance implementation of quantum communication technologies requires coherent control of single photons in optical fiber networks. Here we demonstrate the phenomenon of coherent perfect absorption of single photons in a fully fiberized ultrathin plasmonic metamaterial fabricated at the end facet of an optical fiber. Continuous control of single-photon absorption probability is achieved by driving the network between the regimes of coherent total absorption and coherent total transmission. To circumvent phase fluctuations inherent to optical fiber networks, we implemented a reference-based postselection technique which yielded interference fringe visibility comparable to that of free space experiments. Coherent absorption of quantum light in fiber environment provides new opportunities for dissipative single-photon switching, filtering, and measurement, as well as for manipulation of entangled, weak coherent, and NOON states in optical fiber networks.

Coherent optical fiber networks are extremely sensitive to thermal, mechanical, and acoustic noise, which requires elaborate schemes of phase stabilization with dedicated auxiliary lasers, multiplexers, and photodetectors. This is particularly demanding in quantum networks operating at the single-photon level. Here, we propose a simple method of phase stabilization based on single-photon counting and apply it to quantum fiber networks implementing single-photon interference on a lossless beamsplitter and coherent perfect absorption on a metamaterial absorber. As a proof of principle, we show dissipative single-photon switching with visibility close to 80%. This method can be employed in quantum networks of greater complexity without classical stabilization rigs, potentially increasing efficiency of the quantum channels.

Recently, coherent control of the optical response of thin films in standing waves has attracted considerable attention, ranging from applications in excitation-selective spectroscopy and nonlinear optics to all-optical image processing. Here, we show that integration of metamaterial and optical fibre technologies allows the use of coherently controlled absorption in a fully fiberized and packaged switching metadevice. With this metadevice, which controls light with light in a nanoscale plasmonic metamaterial film on an optical fibre tip, we provide proof-of-principle demonstrations of logical functions XOR, NOT and AND that are performed within a coherent fibre network at wavelengths between 1530 and 1565 nm. The metadevice has been tested at up to 40 gigabits per second and sub-milliwatt power levels. Since coherent absorption can operate at the single-photon level and with 100 THz bandwidth, we argue that the demonstrated all-optical switch concept has potential applications in coherent and quantum information networks.

Coherent optical fibre networks are extremely sensitive to thermal, mechanical and acoustic noise, which requires elaborate schemes of phase stabilization with dedicated auxiliary lasers, multiplexers and photodetectors. This is particularly demanding in quantum networks operating at the single-photon level. Here we propose a simple method of phase stabilization based on single-photon counting and apply it to quantum fibre networks implementing single-photon interference on a lossless beamsplitter and coherent perfect absorption on a metamaterial absorber. As a proof of principle, we show dissipative single-photon switching with visibility close to 80%. This method can be employed in quantum networks of greater complexity without classical stabilization rigs, potentially increasing efficiency of the quantum channels.