Cavity quantum electrodynamics sits at the heart of quantum information science. With rare-earth ion ensembles coupling to on-chip resonators, we demonstrate collectively-induced transparency in the spin domain and microwave periodic superradiant emissions.
Rare-earth ions in solids are a promising platform for quantum technologies because they combine atom-like optical and spin transitions with the practical advantages of a solid-state host compatible with optical and microwave resonators. This thesis studies cavity-coupled 171Yb3+ ensembles in oxide crystals as a platform for collective cavity-QED and many-body physics, motivated by the goal of using rare-earth ions as hybrid quantum interconnects for quantum computation and networking. The central theme is that coupling many rare-earth ions to a shared resonator mode creates a rich setting for studying fundamental collective and many-body physics, while also providing a practical route to microwave-to-optical conversion, protected spin storage, and interfaces between superconducting circuits and optical photons. In 171Yb3+:YVO4, a nanophotonic cavity coupled to an inhomogeneously broadened ion ensemble reveals collective cavity QED in a solid. This work led to the discovery of collectively induced transparency, a cavity-QED phenomenon arising from collective interference in a driven, disordered ensemble. The same system exhibits optical superradiance and subradiance, and supports an interacting microwave spin system in which dipolar exchange competes with disorder, allowing studies of quantum thermalization. With Floquet control, these spin dynamics can be modified to reveal discrete time-crystal signatures. In 171Yb3+:CaWO4, related experiments demonstrate microwave superradiance, one-axis twisting, and many-body gap protection in a solid-state spin ensemble. These physics results are developed alongside quantum-technology applications. The 171Yb3+:YVO4 platform further enables low-noise microwave-to-optical transduction with percent-level on-chip efficiency and added noise near the single-photon level, establishing rare-earth ensembles as a promising approach to optical interconnects for superconducting quantum systems. In 171Yb3+:CaWO4, cavity-mediated gap protection extends Ramsey coherence and supports the development of a spin-based microwave quantum memory, including a classical-regime demonstration of storage and optical readout. The final part develops the superconducting qubit architecture needed to drive a rare-earth transducer with single microwave excitations, including qubit readout, tunable-coupler SWAP control, and cable-mode characterization. Together, these results establish cavity-coupled rare-earth ensembles as a versatile platform for studying fundamental cavity QED and many-body physics and for developing quantum technologies.
Cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) with quantum emitters coupled to resonators provides a powerful platform for engineering light-matter interactions and exploring collective phenomena. In particular, superradiance, arising from collective quantum interference among emitters, has been explored as a route to ultrastable continuous radiation. However, engineering superradiance in the time domain to realize periodic pulsed sources or frequency combs remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigate the non-equilibrium many-body dynamics of a driven spin ensemble coupled to an on-chip superconducting resonator and uncover a dynamical phase transition from continuous-wave to periodic pulsed superradiant emission. To quantitatively capture the observed dynamical phases, we introduce a driven-dissipative cavity-QED model that elucidates how the periodic pulsed superradiant phase emerges from collective, periodically repeating spin dynamics stabilized by the interplay of coherence growth, disorder, and dissipation. We also find that rare-earth ion spin systems exhibiting both optical and microwave transitions enable phase-synchronized, dual-rail superradiant frequency combs in both the microwave and optical domains. Our results not only open new avenues for dual-rail frequency-comb applications in quantum metrology and information processing, but also establish a fundamental connection between periodic pulsed superradiance and the emergence of a continuous time crystal as a novel nonequilibrium phase in driven open systems.
Quantum optical networks will enable distribution of quantum entanglement at long distances, with applications including interconnects between future quantum computers and secure quantum communications. I will present our recent work on developing quantum networking components based on rare-earth ions such as single optically addressable quantum bits based on ytterbium 171 in yttrium orthovanadate, microwave to optical transducers based on erbium doped crystals coupled to microwave and optical resonators, and on-chip telecom optical quantum memories.
Modern cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) illuminates the most fundamental aspects of coherence and decoherence in quantum mechanics. Experiments on atoms in cavities can be described by elementary models but reveal intriguing subtleties of the interplay of coherent dynamics with external couplings. Recent activity in this area has pioneered powerful new approaches to the study of quantum coherence and has fueled the growth of quantum information science. In years to come, the purview of cavity QED will continue to grow as researchers build on a rich infrastructure to attack some of the most pressing open questions in micro- and mesoscopic physics.