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Acta Physica Sinica

Efficient optical nonreciprocity based on four-wave mixing effect in semiconductor quantum well

Yunran Ge, Kang Zheng, Chunling Ding, Xiangying Hao, Rui‐Bo Jin

Published Oct 9, 2023• 4 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical nonreciprocity has been a popular research topic in recent years. Semiconductor quantum wells (SQWs) play a key role in many high-performance optoelectronic devices. In this paper, we propose a theoretical scheme to achieve nonmagnetic optical nonreciprocity based on the four-wave mixing effect in SQW nanostructures. Using the experimentally available parameters, the nonreciprocal behavior of the probe field in forward direction and backward direction is achieved through this SQW, where both nonreciprocal transmission and nonreciprocal phase shift have high transmission rates. Furthermore, by embedding this SQW nanostructure into a Mach-Zender interferometer, a reconfigurable nonreciprocal device based on high transmission nonreciprocal phase shift that can be used as an isolator or a circulator, is designed and analyzed. The device can be realized as a two-port optical isolator with an isolation ratio of 92.39 dB and an insertion loss of 0.25 dB, and as a four-port optical circulator with a fidelity of 0.9993, a photon survival probability of 0.9518 and a low insertion loss with suitable parameters. Semiconductor media have the advantages of easier integration and tunable parameters, and this scheme can provide theoretical guidance for implementing nonreciprocal and nonreciprocal photonic devices based on semiconductor solid-state media.

DOI
10.7498/aps.73.20231212

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Optical nonreciprocity and nonreciprocal devices such as optical diodes have broad and promising applications in various fields, ranging from optical communication to signal process. Here, we propose a magnet-free nonreciprocal scheme based on the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect in semiconductor quantum dots (SQDs). Via controlling the directions of the coupling fields, the probe field can achieve high transmission in the forward direction within a certain frequency range due to the FWM effect. And the transmission of the probe field in the backward direction undergoes significant reduction, as the FWM effect is absent. The calculation results show a wide nonreciprocal transmission window with isolation greater than 12 dB and insertion loss lower than 0.08 dB. The influences of the Rabi frequencies of the coupling fields, the medium length, and the decay rates on the nonreciprocal propagation of the probe field are also studied, showing the requirements of these parameters for good nonreciprocal performances. Our work may offer an insight for developing optical nonreciprocal devices based on the FWM process and the SQD system.
A scheme for magnetic-free optical nonreciprocity in an ensemble of four-level cold atoms is proposed by exploiting the directional four-wave mixing effect. Using experimentally achievable parameters, the nonreciprocal optical responses of the system can be observed and the conversion on nonreciprocal transmission and nonreciprocal phase shift can be implemented. These nonreciprocal phenomena originate from the directional phase matching, which breaks the time-reversal symmetry and dynamic reciprocity of the cold atomic system. Moreover, by embedding the cold atoms into a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and choosing proper parameters, a two-port optical isolator with an isolation ratio of 79.70 dB and an insertion loss of 0.35 dB and a four-port optical circulator with a fidelity of 0.9985 and a photon survival probability of 0.9278 can be realized, which shows the high performance of isolation and circulation. The proposal may enable a new class of optically controllable cavity-free nonreciprocal devices in optical signal processing at the low light level.
Nonreciprocal quantum devices with low loss are indispensable in quantum information processing but challenging to be realized. Here we report an experiment to realize the nonreciprocal phase shift larger than $\ensuremath{\pi}$ with low loss in a cavity-free and magnetic-free cold atomic ensemble based on electromagnetically induced transparency. Furthermore, a four-port all-optical circulator is demonstrated with an average isolation ratio of 22.25 dB and transmission of 0.94 for each channel. At its optimal working point, the circulator's total isolation ratio reaches 63.47 dB, transmission reaches 0.86, and fidelity at about 0.99. Our work can advance further investigation of nonreciprocity with cold atoms in quantum information processing applications.
Optical nonreciprocity is an essential property for a wide range of applications, such as building nonreciprocal optical devices that include isolators and circulators. The realization of optical nonreciprocity relies on breaking the symmetry associated with Lorentz reciprocity, which typically requires stringent conditions such as introducing a strong magnetic field or a high-finesse cavity with nonreciprocal coupling geometry. Here we discover that the collision effect of thermal atoms, which is undesirable for most studies, can induce broadband optical nonreciprocity. By exploiting the thermal atomic collision, we experimentally observe magnet-free and cavity-free optical nonreciprocity, which possesses a high isolation ratio, ultrabroad bandwidth, and low insertion loss simultaneously. The maximum isolation ratio is close to 40 dB, while the insertion loss is less than 1 dB. The bandwidth for an isolation ratio exceeding 20 dB is over 1.2 GHz, which is 2 orders of magnitude broader than typical resonance-enhanced optical isolators. Our work paves the way for the realization of high-performance optical nonreciprocal devices and provides opportunities for applications in integrated optics and quantum networks.
Nonreciprocal optical devices are important in wide areas, ranging from optical telecommunications to signal processing. Here, we experimentally realize the magnet-free and cavity-free optical nonreciprocity based on phase-matched four-wave mixing (FWM) in hot atoms. Specifically, the isolation of more than 20 dB and insertion loss less than 1 dB without using any optical cavity can be achieved simultaneously. Our results provide general insights into a broad class of parametrically modulated nonreciprocal behavior, paving the way toward optimal nonreciprocal devices based on the nonlinear FWM process.
We present a further investigation on the optical nonreciprocity based on four-wave mixing (FWM) by leveraging coherently driven cold atoms, as a beneficial supplement to the usual cavity-waveguide solution in virtue of the on-demand tunability and broadband advantage. We consider two parameter regimes unexplored yet, where the probe and coupling fields are set with vanishing or large detunings while the dressing field is kept on resonance. Numerical results reveal that the forward (backward) probe exhibits a high transmittance (is strongly absorbed) in the resonant regime, but may be largely converted into an FWM field (propagate almost freely) in the far-detuned regime. The optimization of such a reversible unidirectional transmission featured by large isolation ratios and low insertion losses can be attained only when the coupling and dressing fields fulfill different scaling relations in amplitude, which has been well explained via analytical results. It is also viable to achieve reversible unidirectional transmission for a probe field of fixed large detunings by simply tuning the coupling field in a wide spectral range. Our findings provide additional insights into the FWM-based optical nonreciprocity and may enable more powerful unidirectional devices in quantum networks.