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Physical Review Applied

Composite Picosecond Control of Atomic States through a Nanofiber Interface

Yudi Ma, Ruijuan Liu, Lingjing Ji, Liyang Qiu, Dianqiang Su, Yanting Zhao, Ni Yao, Wei Fang, Saijun Wu

Published Aug 17, 2023• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Atoms are ideal quantum sensors and quantum light emitters. Interfacing atoms with nanophotonic devices promises nanoscale sensing and quantum optical functionalities. But precise optical control of atomic states in these devices is challenged by the spatially varying light-atom coupling strength, which is generic to nanophotonic devices. We demonstrate numerically that despite the inhomogeneity, composite picosecond optical pulses with optimally tailored phases are able to evanescently control the atomic electric dipole transitions nearly perfectly, with fidelity $f>99\mathrm{%}$ across volumes large enough for, e.g., controlling cold atoms confined in near-field optical lattices. Our proposal is followed by a proof-of-principle demonstration with a ${}^{85}$$\mathrm{Rb}$-vapor--optical-nanofiber interface, where the excitation by an $N=3$ sequence of guided picosecond ${D}_{1}$ control pulses reduces the absorption of a coguided nanosecond ${D}_{2}$ probe pulse by up to approximately $70\mathrm{%}$. The close-to-ideal performance is corroborated by comparing the absorption data across the parameter space with first-principles modeling of the mesoscopic atomic vapor response. Extension of the composite technique to $N\ensuremath{\ge}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}5$ appears highly feasible to support arbitrary local control of atomic dipoles with exquisite precision. This unprecedented ability would allow error-resilient atomic spectroscopy and open up a variety of research opportunities in nanophotonic quantum optics.

DOI
10.1103/physrevapplied.20.024041

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Atoms are ideal quantum sensors and quantum light emitters. Interfacing atoms with nanophotonic devices promises nanoscale sensing and quantum optical functionalities. But precise optical control of atomic states in these devices is challenged by the spatially varying light-atom coupling strength, which is generic to nanophotonic devices. We demonstrate numerically that despite the inhomogeneity, composite picosecond optical pulses with optimally tailored phases are able to evanescently control the atomic electric dipole transitions nearly perfectly, with fidelity f>99\mathrm{%} across volumes large enough for, e.g., controlling cold atoms confined in near-field optical lattices. Our proposal is followed by a proof-of-principle demonstration with a {}^{85}$$\mathrm{Rb}-vapor--optical-nanofiber interface, where the excitation by an N=3N=3N=3 sequence of guided picosecond D1{D}_{1}D1​ control pulses reduces the absorption of a coguided nanosecond D2{D}_{2}D2​ probe pulse by up to approximately 70\mathrm{%}. The close-to-ideal performance is corroborated by comparing the absorption data across the parameter space with first-principles modeling of the mesoscopic atomic vapor response. Extension of the composite technique to N\ensuremath≥5N\ensuremath{\ge}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}5N\ensuremath≥5 appears highly feasible to support arbitrary local control of atomic dipoles with exquisite precision. This unprecedented ability would allow error-resilient atomic spectroscopy and open up a variety of research opportunities in nanophotonic quantum optics.
Atoms are ideal quantum sensors and quantum light emitters. Interfacing atoms with nanophotonic devices promises novel nanoscale sensing and quantum optical functionalities. But precise optical control of atomic states in these devices is challenged by the spatially varying light-atom coupling strength, generic to nanophotonic. We demonstrate numerically that despite the inhomogenuity, composite picosecond optical pulses with optimally tailored phases are able to evanescently control the atomic electric dipole transitions nearly perfectly, with f>99%f>99\%f>99% fidelity across large enough volumes for {\it e.g.} controlling cold atoms confined in near-field optical lattices. Our proposal is followed by a proof-of-principle demonstration with a 85^{85}85Rb vapor -- optical nanofiber interface, where the excitation by an N=3N=3N=3 sequence of guided picosecond D1 control reduces the absorption of a co-guided nanosecond D2 probe by up to ∼70%\sim70\%∼70%. The close-to-ideal performance is corroborated by comparing the absorption data across the parameter space with first-principle modeling of the mesoscopic atomic vapor response. Extension of the composite technique to N≥5N\geq 5N≥5 appears highly feasible to support arbitrary local control of atomic dipoles with exquisite precision. This unprecedented ability would allow error-resilient atomic spectroscopy and open up novel nonlinear quantum optical research with atom-nanophotonic interfaces.
Quantum control of atoms at ultrashort distances from surfaces would open a new paradigm in quantum optics and offer a novel tool for the investigation of near-surface physics. Here, we investigate the motional states of atoms that are bound weakly to the surface of a hot optical nanofiber. We theoretically demonstrate that with optimized mechanical properties of the nanofiber these states are quantized despite phonon-induced decoherence. We further show that it is possible to influence their properties with additional nanofiber-guided light fields and suggest heterodyne fluorescence spectroscopy to probe the spectrum of the quantized atomic motion. Extending the optical control of atoms to smaller atom-surface separations could create opportunities for quantum communication and instigate the convergence of surface physics, quantum optics, and the physics of cold atoms.
Techniques to controllably interface atoms with quantum optical fields form the basis for many applications in quantum information science. For example, photons are convenient to relay information over large quantum networks, while atoms naturally are physical systems that can process and store this information. Thus far, the available techniques to efficiently couple single photons with atomic media fall into one of the following, mostly independent, categories: i) cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), where atomic interactions with light are enhanced via a high-finesse cavity, ii) coherent coupling with atomic ensembles exhibiting large optical depths, and iii) the use of fields tightly focused to dimensions smaller than or approaching the scattering cross-section of a single atom. Although remarkable achievements have been made with all of these approaches, a robust, scalable technique remains elusive. Recently, several groups have successfully demonstrated that cold atoms can be trapped near and interfaced with nanophotonic systems, such as hollow-core photonic crystal fibers [1] and tapered nanofibers [2–4]. The traps are well-characterized [2, 3, 5], and the nearly diffraction-limited transverse confinement of optical fields enables ∼ 10% coupling efficiency of a single atom to the fiber [2, 3]. This has already led to remarkable observations of strong light-matter interactions using relatively few atoms and low powers [1]. It has also been proposed that such techniques can be extended to highly configurable photonic crystal waveguides [6]. Together, these efforts raise the intriguing possibility for future nanophotonic systems with tremendous figures of merit, wherein atom-light interactions can be tailored nearly at will. Here, we discuss recent efforts to develop novel techniques to realize strong, controllable atom-photon and photon-photon interactions, which take full advantage of the parameter space afforded by nanophotonic interfaces and are not based upon the extension of existing techniques. As a specific example, we discuss a protocol to achieve “all-atomic” cavity QED [7], as briefly described below. First, we show that although the single-atom coupling to guided modes of a nanophotonic waveguide might be relatively weak, there exist collective modes of a trapped atomic ensemble whose coupling to light is enhanced by the square root of the atom number, √ NA. While collective effects are generally well-known, special consequences emerge in the nanofiber system when the atoms are trapped in a lattice. In particular, collective effects cause such a lattice to act as a near-perfect mirror for an incident field close to resonance. In analogy to cavity QED, we then demonstrate that two sets of atomic mirrors can form an effective cavity, which can greatly enhance the coupling of a single, specially chosen “impurity” atom (or a few impurity atoms) positioned inside. We introduce a novel quantum spin model to describe the atom-light coupling, which allows one to exactly map the atom-nanofiber interface onto the simple and elegant Jaynes-Cummings model of cavity QED [8]. A unique feature of our atomic mirrors compared to conventional cavities is that they have long relaxation times and are highly dispersive. Remarkably, even with very low mirror finesse (F ∼ 10 2 ), this property allows one to attain the “strong coupling” regime of cavity QED, where vacuum Rabi oscillations [9–12] occur between an excited impurity atom and a single “photon” stored in the cavity (or more precisely, in the atomic mirrors). Furthermore, as quantum mechanical objects, these atom mirrors can be used to store quantum information and transfer this information into propagating waveguide modes. These various features can be combined to realize all of the building blocks for scalable quantum information processing.
A tapered optical nanofiber is simultaneously used to trap and optically interface cold atoms through evanescent fields and constitutes a new and well controllable hybrid quantum system. The atoms are trapped in two parallel one dimensional (1D) optical lattices generated by suitable far blue and red detuned evanescent field modes very close to opposite sides of the nanofiber surface. Collective electronic excitations (excitons) of each of the optical lattices are resonantly coupled to the second lattice forming symmetric and antisymmetric common excitons. In contrast to the inverse cube dependence of the individual atomic dipole–dipole interaction, we analytically find an exponentially decaying coupling strength with distance between the lattices. The resulting symmetric (bright) excitons strongly interact with the resonant nanofiber photons to form fiber polaritons, which can be observed through linear optical spectra. For large enough wave vectors, the polariton decay rate to free space is strongly reduced, which should render this system ideal for the realization of long-range quantum communication between atomic ensembles.
Near-fields around nanophotonic structures and waveguides can be used to optically interface particles ranging from atoms and molecules to microscopic biological and synthetic particles. Due to the strong, non-linear dependence of the near-field coupling strength on the particles' position, a change of the spread of the particles' position will change their mean coupling strength. When the particles are trapped, this position spread depends on their temperature, generally leading to temperature-dependent coupling. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that this effect renders optical probing of trapped particles with near fields an inherently transient process. Specifically, we trap cold atoms in a two-color dipole trap surrounding an optical nanofiber and probe them with the evanescent field of guided, resonant light. The scattering of this probe light heats up the atoms, leading to a decrease of the coupling strength as well as loss of atoms. We observe both effects via a concurrent decrease of the absorption signal. In addition, we demonstrate that the coupling strength can be recovered by cooling the atoms back to their initial temperature. Our findings are relevant for numerous situations where stable coupling of trapped particles to a nanophotonic structure is required.
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.