Interaction signatures and non-Gaussian photon states from a strongly driven atomic ensemble coupled to a nanophotonic waveguide

Olmos, B.; Buonaiuto, G.; Schneeweiss, P.; Lesanovsky, I.

Abstract

We study theoretically a laser-driven one-dimensional chain of atoms interfaced with the guided optical modes of a nanophotonic waveguide. The period of the chain and the orientation of the laser field can be chosen such that emission occurs predominantly into a single guided mode. We find that the fluorescence excitation line shape changes as the number of atoms is increased, eventually undergoing a splitting that provides evidence for the waveguide-mediated all-to-all interactions. Remarkably, in the regime of strong driving the light emitted into the waveguide is nonclassical with a significant negativity of the associated Wigner function. We show that both the emission properties and the non-Gaussian character of the light are robust against voids in the atom chain, enabling the experimental study of these effects with present-day technology. Our results offer a route towards novel types of fiber-coupled quantum light sources and an interesting perspective for probing the physics of interacting atomic ensembles through light.

Citation

Olmos, B., Buonaiuto, G., Schneeweiss, P., & Lesanovsky, I. (2020). Interaction signatures and non-Gaussian photon states from a strongly driven atomic ensemble coupled to a nanophotonic waveguide. Physical Review A, 102(4), Article 043711. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.102.043711

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 28, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 16, 2020
• Publication Date: Oct 16, 2020
• Deposit Date: Oct 20, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 20, 2020
• Journal: Physical Review A
• Print ISSN: 2469-9926
• Electronic ISSN: 2469-9934
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 102
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 043711
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.102.043711
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4978047
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/pra/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevA.102.043711