Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review Letters

Metasurface-Enabled Remote Quantum Interference

Pankaj Kumar Jha, Xingjie Ni, Chihhui Wu, Yuan Wang, Xiang Zhang

Published Jul 6, 2015• 154 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) opens novel pathways for controlling light-matter interaction in quantum optics, condensed matter physics, etc. Here, we theoretically demonstrate a strong AQV over macroscopic distances enabled by a judiciously designed array of subwavelength-scale nanoantennas-a metasurface. We harness the phase-control ability and the polarization-dependent response of the metasurface to achieve strong anisotropy in the decay rate of a quantum emitter located over distances of hundreds of wavelengths. Such an AQV induces quantum interference among radiative decay channels in an atom with orthogonal transitions. Quantum vacuum engineering with metasurfaces holds promise for exploring new paradigms of long-range light-matter interaction for atom optics, solid-state quantum optics, quantum information processing, etc.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.115.025501

Related papers

Metasurface-enabled quantum vacuum effects over macroscopic distances (Presentation Recording)

Pankaj Kumar Jha, Xingjie Ni, Chihhui Wu +2 more

Quantum vacuum engineering is an active field of research. Here we use recent advances in the field of metasurface (2D-array of sub-wavelength scale nano-antennas) to construct an anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) in the vicinity of a quantum emitter located at some macroscopic distance from the metasurface. Such AQV can induce quantum interference among several atomic transitions, even when the transition dipole moment corresponding to the decay channels are orthogonal. Recently, there have been few theoretical proposal to use metamaterials to engineer the back-action. All these approaches, which works in the near field (few tens of nanometers from the surface), suffers from trapping an atom at these distance, surface interactions like quenching, Casimir force etc. Hence it’s pivotal to construct the back-action over macroscopic distance. We harness the polarization dependent response of a metasurface to engineer the back-action of the spontaneous emission from the atom to itself. We show strong anisotropy in the decay rate of a quantum emitter which is a manifestation of AQV. Engineering light-matter interaction over macroscopic distances opens new possibilities for long-range interaction between quantum emitters for quantum information processing, spin-optics/spintronics etc.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Oct 5, 2015•0 citations

Long-lifetime coherence in a quantum emitter induced by a metasurface

Emmanuel Lassalle, Philippe Lalanne, Syed Abdullah Aljunid +4 more

An anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) has been predicted to induce quantum interferences during the spontaneous emission process in an atomic $V$ transition [G. S. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5500 (2000)]. Nevertheless, the finite lifetime of the excited states is expected to strongly limit the observability of this phenomenon. In this paper, we predict that an AQV can induce a long-lifetime coherence in an atomic $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ transition from the process of spontaneous emission, which has an additional advantage of removing the need for coherent laser excitation. We also carry out two metasurface designs and compare their respective efficiencies for creating an AQV over remote distances. The detection of this coherence induced by a metasurface, in addition to being yet another vindication of quantum electrodynamics, could pave the way towards the remote distance control of coherent coupling between quantum emitters, which is a key requirement to produce entanglement in quantum technology applications.

arXiv:1909.02409•Physical Review A•Jan 31, 2020•22 citations

Metasurface-Mediated Quantum Entanglement

Pankaj Kumar Jha, Nir Shitrit, Jeongmin Kim +3 more

Entanglement-based quantum science exploits subtle properties of quantum mechanics into applications such as quantum computing, sensing, and metrology. The emerging route for quantum computing applications, which calls for ultracompact, integrated, and scalable architecture, aims at on-chip entangled qubits. In this context, quantum entanglement among atomic qubits was achieved via cold-controlled collisions which are only significant at subwavelength separations. However, as other manifolds of quantum state engineering require single-site addressability and controlled manipulation of the individual qubit using diffraction-limited optics, entanglement of qubits separated by macroscopic distances at the chip level is still an outstanding challenge. Here, we report a novel platform for on-chip quantum state engineering by harnessing the extraordinary light-molding capabilities of metasurfaces. We theoretically demonstrate quantum entanglement between two qubits trapped on a chip and separated by macroscopic distances, by engineering their coherent and dissipative interactions via the metasurface. Spatially scalable interaction channels offered by the metasurface enable robust generation of entanglement, with large values of concurrence and remarkable revival from sudden death. The metasurface route to quantum state engineering opens a new paradigm for on-chip quantum science and technologies.

ACS Photonics•Dec 1, 2017•80 citations

Tunable Directional Emission and Collective Dissipation with Quantum Metasurfaces

David Fernández-Fernández, Alejandro González-Tudela

Subwavelength atomic arrays, recently labeled as quantum metamaterials, have emerged as an exciting platform for obtaining novel quantum optical phenomena. The strong interference effects in these systems generate subradiant excitations that propagate through the atomic array with very long lifetimes. Here, we demonstrate that one can harness these excitations to obtain tunable directional emission patterns and collective dissipative couplings when placing judiciously additional atoms nearby the atomic array. For doing that, we first characterize the optimal square array geometry to obtain directional emission patterns. Then, we characterize the best atomic positions to couple efficiently to the subradiant metasurface excitations and provide several improvement strategies based on entangled atomic clusters or bilayers. Afterward, we also show how the directionality of the emission pattern can be controlled through the relative dipole orientation between the auxiliary atoms and the one of the array. Finally, we benchmark how these directional emission patterns translate into to collective, anisotropic dissipative couplings between the auxiliary atoms by studying the lifetime modification of atomic entangled states.

arXiv:2107.00485•Physical Review Letters•Mar 14, 2022•35 citations

Cooperative quantum phenomena

Michael Reitz, Christian Sommer, Claudiu Genes

Quantum cooperativity is evident in light-matter platforms where quantum emitter ensembles are interfaced with confined optical modes and are coupled via the ubiquitous electromagnetic quantum vacuum. Cooperative aspects such as dipole-dipole interactions and subradiance find applications in the design of nanoscale coherent light sources and highly-reflective quantum metasurfaces made up of hundreds of optically trapped atoms, in the implementation of topological quantum optics on subwavelength arrays of emitters, in quantum metrology and quantum information. The quick bursts of radiation from a collection of quasi-indistiguishable emitters provides an alternative approach to standard lasers by introducing superradiant lasers operating at extremely low intracavity power. This tutorial provides a set of theoretical tools to tackle the behavior responsible for the onset of cooperativity in light-matter systems by extending open quantum system dynamics methods, such as the master equation and quantum Langevin equations, to electron-photon interactions in strongly coupled and correlated quantum emitters ensembles. These analytical approaches are then also extended to frequency disordered or vibronically coupled quantum emitter ensembles with wide relevance ranging from atoms in optical lattices, quantum dots in solid state environments or molecular quantum systems.

•Jul 7, 2021•1 citation

Atomic-waveguide quantum electrodynamics

Stuart J. Masson, Ana Asenjo-Garcı́a

Atom arrays are a new type of quantum light-matter interface.Here we propose to employ one-dimensional ordered arrays as atomic waveguides.These arrays support optical guided modes that do not decay into free space.We show that these modes can be harnessed to mediate tunable, long-range interactions between additional "impurity qubits" coupled to the chain, without need for photonic structures.The efficient coupling between qubits and atomic waveguides enables the realization of tunable qubit-qubit interactions, which can be short or long range, dissipative or coherent, as well as chiral.Moreover, owing to the two-level nature of atoms, these waveguides are intrinsically quantum.In contrast to classical waveguides, where photons do not interact with each other, atomic waveguides display strong nonlinearities, which create a tunable dissipative channel for qubit-qubit interactions, and opens the door to the exploration of many-body physics between guided photons.This physics is universal as it only relies on photon interference and can also be observed with other types of quantum emitters, such as those in molecular or solid-state systems.

arXiv:1912.06234•Physical Review Research•Nov 10, 2020•95 citations
An anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) opens novel pathways for controlling light-matter interaction in quantum optics, condensed matter physics, etc. Here, we theoretically demonstrate a strong AQV over macroscopic distances enabled by a judiciously designed array of subwavelength-scale nanoantennas-a metasurface. We harness the phase-control ability and the polarization-dependent response of the metasurface to achieve strong anisotropy in the decay rate of a quantum emitter located over distances of hundreds of wavelengths. Such an AQV induces quantum interference among radiative decay channels in an atom with orthogonal transitions. Quantum vacuum engineering with metasurfaces holds promise for exploring new paradigms of long-range light-matter interaction for atom optics, solid-state quantum optics, quantum information processing, etc.
Quantum vacuum engineering is an active field of research. Here we use recent advances in the field of metasurface (2D-array of sub-wavelength scale nano-antennas) to construct an anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) in the vicinity of a quantum emitter located at some macroscopic distance from the metasurface. Such AQV can induce quantum interference among several atomic transitions, even when the transition dipole moment corresponding to the decay channels are orthogonal. Recently, there have been few theoretical proposal to use metamaterials to engineer the back-action. All these approaches, which works in the near field (few tens of nanometers from the surface), suffers from trapping an atom at these distance, surface interactions like quenching, Casimir force etc. Hence it’s pivotal to construct the back-action over macroscopic distance. We harness the polarization dependent response of a metasurface to engineer the back-action of the spontaneous emission from the atom to itself. We show strong anisotropy in the decay rate of a quantum emitter which is a manifestation of AQV. Engineering light-matter interaction over macroscopic distances opens new possibilities for long-range interaction between quantum emitters for quantum information processing, spin-optics/spintronics etc.
An anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) has been predicted to induce quantum interferences during the spontaneous emission process in an atomic VVV transition [G. S. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5500 (2000)]. Nevertheless, the finite lifetime of the excited states is expected to strongly limit the observability of this phenomenon. In this paper, we predict that an AQV can induce a long-lifetime coherence in an atomic $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ transition from the process of spontaneous emission, which has an additional advantage of removing the need for coherent laser excitation. We also carry out two metasurface designs and compare their respective efficiencies for creating an AQV over remote distances. The detection of this coherence induced by a metasurface, in addition to being yet another vindication of quantum electrodynamics, could pave the way towards the remote distance control of coherent coupling between quantum emitters, which is a key requirement to produce entanglement in quantum technology applications.
Entanglement-based quantum science exploits subtle properties of quantum mechanics into applications such as quantum computing, sensing, and metrology. The emerging route for quantum computing applications, which calls for ultracompact, integrated, and scalable architecture, aims at on-chip entangled qubits. In this context, quantum entanglement among atomic qubits was achieved via cold-controlled collisions which are only significant at subwavelength separations. However, as other manifolds of quantum state engineering require single-site addressability and controlled manipulation of the individual qubit using diffraction-limited optics, entanglement of qubits separated by macroscopic distances at the chip level is still an outstanding challenge. Here, we report a novel platform for on-chip quantum state engineering by harnessing the extraordinary light-molding capabilities of metasurfaces. We theoretically demonstrate quantum entanglement between two qubits trapped on a chip and separated by macroscopic distances, by engineering their coherent and dissipative interactions via the metasurface. Spatially scalable interaction channels offered by the metasurface enable robust generation of entanglement, with large values of concurrence and remarkable revival from sudden death. The metasurface route to quantum state engineering opens a new paradigm for on-chip quantum science and technologies.
Subwavelength atomic arrays, recently labeled as quantum metamaterials, have emerged as an exciting platform for obtaining novel quantum optical phenomena. The strong interference effects in these systems generate subradiant excitations that propagate through the atomic array with very long lifetimes. Here, we demonstrate that one can harness these excitations to obtain tunable directional emission patterns and collective dissipative couplings when placing judiciously additional atoms nearby the atomic array. For doing that, we first characterize the optimal square array geometry to obtain directional emission patterns. Then, we characterize the best atomic positions to couple efficiently to the subradiant metasurface excitations and provide several improvement strategies based on entangled atomic clusters or bilayers. Afterward, we also show how the directionality of the emission pattern can be controlled through the relative dipole orientation between the auxiliary atoms and the one of the array. Finally, we benchmark how these directional emission patterns translate into to collective, anisotropic dissipative couplings between the auxiliary atoms by studying the lifetime modification of atomic entangled states.
Quantum cooperativity is evident in light-matter platforms where quantum emitter ensembles are interfaced with confined optical modes and are coupled via the ubiquitous electromagnetic quantum vacuum. Cooperative aspects such as dipole-dipole interactions and subradiance find applications in the design of nanoscale coherent light sources and highly-reflective quantum metasurfaces made up of hundreds of optically trapped atoms, in the implementation of topological quantum optics on subwavelength arrays of emitters, in quantum metrology and quantum information. The quick bursts of radiation from a collection of quasi-indistiguishable emitters provides an alternative approach to standard lasers by introducing superradiant lasers operating at extremely low intracavity power. This tutorial provides a set of theoretical tools to tackle the behavior responsible for the onset of cooperativity in light-matter systems by extending open quantum system dynamics methods, such as the master equation and quantum Langevin equations, to electron-photon interactions in strongly coupled and correlated quantum emitters ensembles. These analytical approaches are then also extended to frequency disordered or vibronically coupled quantum emitter ensembles with wide relevance ranging from atoms in optical lattices, quantum dots in solid state environments or molecular quantum systems.
Atom arrays are a new type of quantum light-matter interface.Here we propose to employ one-dimensional ordered arrays as atomic waveguides.These arrays support optical guided modes that do not decay into free space.We show that these modes can be harnessed to mediate tunable, long-range interactions between additional "impurity qubits" coupled to the chain, without need for photonic structures.The efficient coupling between qubits and atomic waveguides enables the realization of tunable qubit-qubit interactions, which can be short or long range, dissipative or coherent, as well as chiral.Moreover, owing to the two-level nature of atoms, these waveguides are intrinsically quantum.In contrast to classical waveguides, where photons do not interact with each other, atomic waveguides display strong nonlinearities, which create a tunable dissipative channel for qubit-qubit interactions, and opens the door to the exploration of many-body physics between guided photons.This physics is universal as it only relies on photon interference and can also be observed with other types of quantum emitters, such as those in molecular or solid-state systems.