Coherent Control of Light in Subwavelength Devices and Control of matter with Light

Kevin F. MacDonald, Eric Plum, Daniele Faccio +1 more

Jun Ye, R. Jason Jones, Kevin W. Holman +6 more

Kritsana Srakaew, Pascal Weckesser, Simon Hollerith +4 more

Enhancing light-matter coupling at the level of single quanta is essential for numerous applications in quantum science. The cooperative optical response of subwavelength atomic arrays has been found to open new pathways for such strong light-matter couplings, while simultaneously offering access to multiple spatial modes of the light field. Efficient single-mode free-space coupling to such arrays has been reported, but the spatial control over the modes of outgoing light fields has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate such spatial control over the optical response of an atomically thin mirror formed by a subwavelength array of atoms in free space using a single controlled ancilla atom excited to a Rydberg state. The switching behavior is controlled by the admixture of a small Rydberg fraction to the atomic mirror, and consequently strong dipolar Rydberg interactions with the ancilla. Driving Rabi oscillations on the ancilla atom, we demonstrate coherent control of the transmission and reflection of the array. These results represent a step towards the realization of quantum coherent metasurfaces, the demonstration of controlled atom-photon entanglement and deterministic engineering of quantum states of light.

Keith Adam Nelson

Kritsana Srakaew, Pascal Weckesser, Simon Hollerith +4 more

Abstract Enhancing light–matter coupling at the level of single quanta is essential for numerous applications in quantum science. The cooperative optical response of subwavelength atomic arrays has been found to open new pathways for such strong light–matter couplings, while simultaneously offering access to multiple spatial modes of the light field. Efficient single-mode free-space coupling to such arrays has been reported, but spatial control over the modes of outgoing light fields has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate such spatial control over the optical response of an atomically thin mirror formed by a subwavelength array of atoms in free space using a single controlled ancilla atom excited to a Rydberg state. The switching behaviour is controlled by the admixture of a small Rydberg fraction to the atomic mirror, and consequently strong dipolar Rydberg interactions with the ancilla. Driving Rabi oscillations on the ancilla atom, we demonstrate coherent control of the transmission and reflection of the array. These results represent a step towards the realization of quantum coherent metasurfaces, the demonstration of controlled atom–photon entanglement and deterministic engineering of quantum states of light.

Fumiaki Matsuoka, Hiroyuki Nihei, Atsushi Okamoto

We demonstrate that the emission spectrum from a quantum dot near the edge of a photonic band gap (PBG) can be spectrally resolved on the subwavelength scale using coherent control. In the case of the coherent control, confined light near a quantum dot embedded in photonic crystals can be released by changing the phase of the external laser phase, without closing the PBG. Moreover, in this demonstration, we examine the spectrum resolution of the coherent control, which indicates that the spectrum resolution is the subwavelength scale. Therefore, even if there are many quantum dots are embedded in photonic crystals, we can be operated a quantum dot with a specific resonant frequency. This technique may provide a basis for N-qubit operation for quantum computations and nanophotonic devices.