Coupling metamaterials with quantum states of light

Nikolay I. Zheludev

Eugene Koreshin, Denis I. Sakhno, Alexander N. Poddubny +1 more

Abstract Arrays of atoms coupled to photons, propagating in a waveguide, are now actively studied due to their prospects for generation and detection of quantum light. Quantum simulators based on waveguides with long-range couplings were also predicted to manifest unusual many-body quantum states. However, quantum tomography for large arrays with N > 20 atoms remains elusive since it requires independent access to every atom. Here, we present a novel concept for analogue quantum simulations by mapping the setup of waveguide quantum electrodynamics to the classical problem of an electromagnetic wave, propagating in a wire metamaterial. By experimentally measuring the near electromagnetic field we emulate the localization arising from polariton-polariton interactions in the quantum problem. Our results demonstrate the potential of wire metamaterials to visualize quantum light-matter coupling in a table-top experiment and may be applied to emulate other exotic quantum effects, such as quantum chaos, and self-induced topological states.

Nikolay I. Zheludev

Kosmas L. Tsakmakidis, Ortwin G. Hess

Recently there has been a considerable interest in metamaterial waveguide structures capable of dramatically slowing down or, even, completely stopping light. Here, we shall explain in some detail the working principle behind the deceleration and/or stopping of light in metamaterial structures, and review the various, metamaterial-enabled, methods that have been proposed thus far towards achieving such a goal. Further, we will concisely describe how one can construct zero-loss metamaterials over a continuous and broad (but not infinite) range of frequencies, which is an essential prerequisite for any slow-light system. Moreover, it will be explained that inside such waveguide structures light can in principle be stopped (zero group velocity, vg = 0) even in the presence of losses. By nature, metamaterialenabled schemes for stopping/storing light invoke solid-state materials and, as such, are not subject to low-temperature or atomic coherence limitations. Furthermore, these methods simultaneously allow for broad bandwidth operation, since they do not rely on group index resonances; large delay-bandwidth products, since a wave packet can, in principle, be completely stopped and buffered indefinitely; and (for the case, in particular, where a negative-index metamaterial is used) high, almost 100%, in/out-coupling efficiencies. Thus, we conclude that these methods for trapping photons, which can be realised using existing technology, could open the way to a multitude of hybrid optoelectronic devices to be used in 'quantum information' processing, communication networks and signal processors and may conceivably herald a new realm of combined metamaterials and slow light research.

Chihhui Wu, Alexander B. Khanikaev, Gennady B. Shvets

We propose a concept of a low-symmetry three-dimensional metamaterial exhibiting a double-continuum Fano (DCF) optical resonance. Such metamaterial is described as a birefringent medium supporting a discrete dark electromagnetic state weakly coupled to the continua of two nondegenerate bright bands of orthogonal polarizations. It is demonstrated that light propagation through such DCF metamaterial can be slowed down over a broad frequency range when the medium parameters (e.g., frequency of the dark mode) are adiabatically changed along the optical path. Using a specific metamaterial implementation, we demonstrate that the DCF approach to slow light is superior to that of the electromagnetically induced transparency because it enables spectrally uniform group velocity and transmission coefficient.

Yunxia, Dong, Xiaohua +1 more