Coupling Regime Of Cavity QED Research Articles

Nanofiber-segment ring resonator.

We describe a fiber ring resonator comprised of a relatively long loop of standard single-mode fiber with a short nanofiber segment. The evanescent mode of the nanofiber segment allows the cavity-enhanced field to interact with atoms in close proximity to the nanofiber surface. We report on an experiment using a warm atomic vapor and low-finesse cavity, and briefly discuss the potential for reaching the strong coupling regime of cavity QED by using trapped atoms and a high-finesse cavity of this kind.

Photon routing in cavity QED: Beyond the fundamental limit of photon blockade

The most simple and seemingly straightforward application of the photon blockade effect, in which the transport of one photon prevents the transport of others, would be to separate two incoming indistinguishable photons to different output ports. We show that time-energy uncertainty relations inherently prevent this ideal situation when the blockade is implemented by a two-level system. The fundamental nature of this limit is revealed in the fact that photon blockade in the strong coupling regime of cavity QED, resulting from the nonlinearity of the Jaynes-Cummings energy level structure, exhibits efficiency and temporal behavior identical to those of photon blockade in the bad cavity regime, where the underlying nonlinearity is that of the atom itself. We demonstrate that this limit can be exceeded, yet not avoided, by exploiting time-energy entanglement between the incident photons. Finally, we show how this limit can be circumvented completely by using a three-level atom coupled to a single-sided cavity, enabling an ideal and robust photon routing mechanism.

Coherent spectroscopy of rare-earth-metal-ion-doped whispering-gallery-mode resonators

We perform an investigation into the properties of Pr${}^{3+}$:Y${}_{2}$SiO${}_{5}$ whispering-gallery-mode resonators as a first step toward achieving the strong coupling regime of cavity QED with rare-earth-metal-ion-doped crystals. Direct measurement of cavity QED parameters are made using photon echoes, giving good agreement with theoretical predictions. By comparing the ions at the surface of the resonator to those in the center, it is determined that the physical process of making the resonator does not negatively affect the properties of the ions. Coupling between the ions and resonator is analyzed through the observation of optical bistability and normal-mode splitting.

Ultrastrong coupling regime of cavity QED with phase-biased flux qubits

We theoretically study a circuit QED architecture based on a superconducting flux qubit directly coupled to the center conductor of a coplanar waveguide transmission-line resonator. As already shown experimentally [A. A. Abdumalikov, Jr. et al., Phys. Rev. B 78, 180502(R) (2008)], the strong coupling regime of cavity QED can readily be achieved by optimizing the local inductance of the resonator in the vicinity of the qubit. In addition to yielding stronger coupling with respect to other proposals for flux qubit based circuit QED, this approach leads to a qubit-resonator coupling strength $g$ which does not scale as the area of the qubit but is proportional to the total inductance shared between the resonator and the qubit. Strong coupling can thus be attained while still minimizing sensitivity to flux noise. Finally, we show that by taking advantage of the large kinetic inductance of a Josephson junction in the center conductor of the resonator can lead to coupling energies of several tens of percent of the resonator frequency, reaching the ultrastrong coupling regime of cavity QED where the rotating-wave approximation breaks down. This should allow an on-chip implementation of the $E\ensuremath{\bigotimes}\ensuremath{\beta}$ Jahn-Teller model.

Cavity QED with Diamond Nanocrystals and Silica Microspheres

Normal mode splitting is observed in a cavity QED system in which nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond nanocrystals are coupled to whispering gallery modes in a silica microsphere. The composite nanocrystal-microsphere system takes advantage of the exceptional spin properties of nitrogen vacancy centers as well as the ultrahigh quality factor of silica microspheres. The observation of the normal mode splitting indicates that the dipole optical interaction between the relevant nitrogen vacancy center and whispering gallery mode has reached the strong coupling regime of cavity QED.

Entanglement generated between a single atom and a laser pulse

We quantify the entanglement generated between an atom and a laser pulse in free space. We find that the entanglement calculated using a simple closed-system Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian is in remarkable agreement with a full open-system calculation, even though the free-space geometry is far from the strong coupling regime of cavity QED. We explain this result using a simple model in which the atom couples weakly to the laser while coupling strongly to the vacuum. Additionally we place an upper bound on the total entanglement between the atom and all paraxial modes using a quantum trajectories unravelling. This upper bound provides a benchmark for atom-laser coupling.