Abstract
Quantum engineering using photonic structures offer new capabilities for atom-photon interactions for quantum optics and atomic physics, which could eventually lead to integrated quantum devices. Despite the rapid progress in the variety of structures, coherent excitation of the motional states of atoms in a photonic waveguide using guided modes has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we use the waveguide mode of a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre to manipulate the mechanical Fock states of single atoms in a harmonic potential inside the fibre. We create a large array of Schrödinger cat states, a quintessential feature of quantum physics and a key element in quantum information processing and metrology, of approximately 15000 atoms along the fibre by entangling the electronic state with the coherent harmonic oscillator state of each individual atom. Our results provide a useful step for quantum information and simulation with a wide range of photonic waveguide systems.
Highlights
Quantum engineering using photonic structures offer new capabilities for atom-photon interactions for quantum optics and atomic physics, which could eventually lead to integrated quantum devices
We demonstrate coherent excitation of the Fock states of atoms in an optical harmonic potential formed by the fundamental LP01 mode of a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre
When atoms are in the fibre, we hold the atoms in a stationary lattice and optically pump them into the magnetic-field-insensitive |F = 2, m = 0> state to avoid the influence of inhomogeneous magnetic fields, where F denotes the hyperfine ground state of 85Rb and m is the Zeeman state
Summary
Quantum engineering using photonic structures offer new capabilities for atom-photon interactions for quantum optics and atomic physics, which could eventually lead to integrated quantum devices. We use the waveguide mode of a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre to manipulate the mechanical Fock states of single atoms in a harmonic potential inside the fibre. Cold atoms in hollow-core fibres have shown potential applications in timekeeping and sensing[8,12,13] Regardless of these achievements, quantum control and manipulation of both external and internal degrees of freedom of atoms using photonic waveguide modes have not been realised. We demonstrate coherent excitation of the Fock states of atoms in an optical harmonic potential formed by the fundamental LP01 mode of a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre. The axial vibrational energy levels of the lattice form the Fock state basis |n> for our experiments
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