arXiv subjects

E. S. Polzik

Publications and source records attributed to E. S. Polzik.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Deterministic coupling of ultracold atomic lattice to a suspended photonic waveguide

The deterministic control of light-matter interactions at the level of single particles and on subwavelength scales is central to quantum optics and hybrid integrated quantum technologies. However, combining cold atom research with nanophotonic devices in a fully controllable platform remains a major experimental challenge. Here, we demonstrate the deterministic coupling of an ultracold atomic lattice to light propagating in suspended on-chip photonic circuits. These capabilities open avenues to address scalability challenges in neutral-atom quantum computers and simulators, enabling fast optical readout, efficient and subwavelength non-diffracting interaction zones, and genuine compatibility with integrated solid-state photon sources, detectors, and stop-band modulators. Beyond controllable quantum matter, the platform also enables in-situ imaging of evanescent fields of light and nanoscale structures, including prospects for three-dimensional scanning microscopy with non-invasive single-atom probes for quantum sensing applications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

"Membrane-outside" as an optomechanical system

We theoretically study an optomechanical system, which consists of a two-sided cavity and a mechanical membrane that is placed outside of it. The membrane is positioned close to one of its mirrors, and the cavity is coupled to the external light field through the other mirror. Our study is focused on the regime where the dispersive optomechanical coupling in the system vanishes. Such a regime is found to be possible if the membrane is less reflecting than the adjacent mirror, yielding a potentially very strong dissipative optomechanical coupling. Specifically, if the absolute values of amplitude transmission coefficients of the membrane and the mirror, $t$ and $t_m$ respectively, obey the condition $ t_m^2< t\ll t_m\ll 1$, the dissipative coupling constant of the setup exceeds the dispersive coupling constant for an optomechanical cavity of the same length. The dissipative coupling constant and the corresponding optomechanical cooperativity of the proposed system are also compared with those of the Michelson-Sagnac interferometer and the so-called "membrane-at-the-edge" system, which are known for a strong optomechanical dissipative interaction. It is shown that under the above condition, the system proposed here is advantageous in both aspects. It also enables an efficient realization of the two-port configuration, which was recently proposed as a promising optomechanical system, providing, among other benefits, a possibility of quantum limited optomechanical measurements in a system, which does not suffer from any optomechanical instability.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Dissipative vs dispersive coupling in quantum opto-mechanics: squeezing ability and stability

Generation of squeezed light and optomechanical instability for dissipative type of opto- mechanical coupling is theoretically addressed for a cavity with the input mirror, serving as a mechanical oscillator, or an equivalent system. The problem is treated analytically for the case of resonance excitation or small detunings, mainly focusing on the bad cavity limit. A qualitative difference between the dissipative and purely dispersive coupling is reported. In particular, it is shown that, for the purely dissipative coupling in the bad cavity regime, the backaction is strongly reduced and the squeezing ability of the system is strongly suppressed, in contrast to the case of purely dispersive coupling. It is also shown that, for small detunings, stability diagrams for the cases of the purely dispersive and dissipative couplings are qualitatively identical to within the change of the sign of detuning. The results obtained are compared with those from the recent theoretical publications.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Observation of quantum spin noise in a 1D light-atoms quantum interface

We observe collective quantum spin states of an ensemble of atoms in a one-dimensional light-atom interface. Strings of hundreds of cesium atoms trapped in the evanescent fiel of a tapered nanofiber are prepared in a coherent spin state, a superposition of the two clock states. A weak quantum nondemolition measurement of one projection of the collective spin is performed using a detuned probe dispersively coupled to the collective atomic observable, followed by a strong destructive measurement of the same spin projection. For the coherent spin state we achieve the value of the quantum projection noise 40 dB above the detection noise, well above the 3 dB required for reconstruction of the negative Wigner function of nonclassical states. We analyze the effects of strong spatial inhomogeneity inherent to atoms trapped and probed by the evanescent waves. We furthermore study temporal dynamics of quantum fluctuations relevant for measurement-induced spin squeezing and assess the impact of thermal atomic motion. This work paves the road towards observation of spin squeezed and entangled states and many-body interactions in 1D spin ensembles.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Semi-classical Dynamics of Superradiant Rayleigh Scattering in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Due to its coherence properties and high optical depth, a Bose-Einstein condensate provides an ideal setting to investigate collective atom-light interactions. Superradiant light scattering in a Bose-Einstein condensate is a fascinating example of such an interaction. It is an analogous process to Dicke superradiance, in which an electronically inverted sample decays collectively, leading to the emission of one or more light pulses in a well-defined direction. Through time-resolved measurements of the superradiant light pulses emitted by an end-pumped BEC, we study the close connection of superradiant light scattering with Dicke superradiance. A 1D model of the system yields good agreement with the experimental data and shows that the dynamics results from the structures that build up in the light and matter-wave fields along the BEC. This paves the way for exploiting the atom-photon correlations generated by the superradiance.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Coherent backscattering of light off one-dimensional atomic strings

We present the first experimental realization of coherent Bragg scattering off a one-dimensional (1D) system -- two strings of atoms strongly coupled to a single photonic mode -- realized by trapping atoms in the evanescent field of a tapered optical fiber (TOF), which also guides the probe light. We report nearly 12% power reflection from strings containing only about one thousand cesium atoms, an enhancement of two orders of magnitude compared to reflection from randomly positioned atoms. This result paves the road towards collective strong coupling in 1D atom-photon systems. Our approach also allows for a straightforward fiber connection between several distant 1D atomic crystals.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2016

Scalable photonic network architecture based on motional averaging in room temperature gas

Quantum interfaces between photons and ensembles of atoms have emerged as powerful tools for quantum technologies. A major objective for such interfaces is high fidelity storage and retrieval of a photon in a collective quantum state of many atoms. This requires long-lived collective superposition states, which is typically achieved with immobilized atoms. Thermal atomic vapors, which present a simple and scalable resource, have, so far, only been used for continuous variable processing or for discrete variable processing on short time scales where atomic motion is negligible. We develop a theory based on the concept of motional averaging to enable room temperature discrete variable quantum memories and coherent single photon sources. We show that by choosing the interaction time so that atoms kept under spin protecting conditions can cross the light beam several times during the interaction combined with suitable spectral filtering, we erase the "which atom" information and obtain an efficient and homogenous coupling between all atoms and the light. Heralded single excitations can thus be created and stored as collective spinwaves, which can later be read out to produce coherent single photons in a scalable fashion. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach to scalable quantum memories with a proof-of-principle experiment with room temperature atoms contained in microcells with spin protecting coating, placed inside an optical cavity. The experiment is performed at conditions corresponding to a few photons per pulse and clearly demonstrates a long coherence time of the forward scattered photons, which is the essential feature of the motional averaging.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Generation and detection of a sub-Poissonian atom number distribution in a one-dimensional optical lattice

We demonstrate preparation and detection of an atom number distribution in a one-dimensional atomic lattice with the variance $-14$ dB below the Poissonian noise level. A mesoscopic ensemble containing a few thousand atoms is trapped in the evanescent field of a nanofiber. The atom number is measured through dual-color homodyne interferometry with a pW-power shot noise limited probe. Strong coupling of the evanescent probe guided by the nanofiber allows for a real-time measurement with a precision of $\pm 8$ atoms on an ensemble of some $10^3$ atoms in a one-dimensional trap. The method is very well suited for generating collective atomic entangled or spin-squeezed states via a quantum non-demolition measurement as well as for tomography of exotic atomic states in a one-dimensional lattice.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Quantum interference of a single spin excitation with a macroscopic atomic ensemble

We report on the observation of quantum interference of a collective single spin excitation with a spin ensemble of $N_{\text{atom}} =10^5$ atoms. Detection of a single photon scattered from the atoms creates the single spin excitation, a Fock state embedded in the collective spin of the ensemble. The state of the atomic ensemble is then detected by tomography via a quantum non-demolition measurement of the collective spin. A macroscopic difference of the order of $\sqrt{N_{\text{atom}}}$ in the marginal distribution of the collective spin state arises from the interference between the single excited spin and $N_{\text{atom}}$ atoms. The hybrid discrete-continuous processing of the collective spin pave the road towards generation of even more exotic states for quantum information processing, precision measurements and communication.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Optical detection of radio waves through a nanomechanical transducer

Low-loss transmission and sensitive recovery of weak radio-frequency (rf) and microwave signals is an ubiquitous technological challenge, crucial in fields as diverse as radio astronomy, medical imaging, navigation and communication, including those of quantum states. Efficient upconversion of rf-signals to an optical carrier would allow transmitting them via optical fibers dramatically reducing losses, and give access to the mature toolbox of quantum optical techniques, routinely enabling quantum-limited signal detection. Research in the field of cavity optomechanics has shown that nanomechanical oscillators can couple very strongly to either microwave or optical fields. An oscillator accommodating both functionalities would bear great promise as the intermediate platform in a radio-to-optical transduction cascade. Here, we demonstrate such an opto-electro-mechanical transducer utilizing a high-Q nanomembrane. A moderate voltage bias (<10V) is sufficient to induce strong coupling between the voltage fluctuations in a rf resonance circuit and the membrane's displacement, which is simultaneously coupled to light reflected off its metallized surface. The circuit acts as an antenna; the voltage signals it induces are detected as an optical phase shift with quantum-limited sensitivity. The half-wave voltage is in the microvolt range, orders of magnitude below that of standard optical modulators. The noise added by the membrane is suppressed by the electro-mechanical cooperativity C~6800 and has a temperature of 40mK, far below 300K where the entire device is operated. This corresponds to a sensitivity limit as low as 5 pV/Hz^1/2, or -210dBm/Hz in a narrow band around 1 MHz. Our work introduces an entirely new approach to all-optical, ultralow-noise detection of classical electronic signals, and sets the stage for coherent upconversion of low-frequency quantum signals to the optical domain.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Deterministic quantum teleportation between distant atomic objects

Quantum teleportation is a key ingredient of quantum networks and a building block for quantum computation. Teleportation between distant material objects using light as the quantum information carrier has been a particularly exciting goal. Here we demonstrate a new element of the quantum teleportation landscape, the deterministic continuous variable (cv) teleportation between distant material objects. The objects are macroscopic atomic ensembles at room temperature. Entanglement required for teleportation is distributed by light propagating from one ensemble to the other. Quantum states encoded in a collective spin state of one ensemble are teleported onto another ensemble using this entanglement and homodyne measurements on light. By implementing process tomography, we demonstrate that the experimental fidelity of the quantum teleportation is higher than that achievable by any classical process. Furthermore, we demonstrate the benefits of deterministic teleportation by teleporting a dynamically changing sequence of spin states from one distant object onto another.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Towards quantum state tomography of a single polariton state of an atomic ensemble

We present a proposal and a feasibility study for the creation and quantum state tomography of a single polariton state of an atomic ensemble. The collective non-classical and non-Gaussian state of the ensemble is generated by detection of a single forward scattered photon. The state is subsequently characterized by atomic state tomography performed using strong dispersive light-atoms interaction followed by a homodyne measurement on the transmitted light. The proposal is backed by preliminary experimental results showing projection noise limited sensitivity and a simulation demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed method for detection of a non-classical and non-Gaussian state of the mesoscopic atomic ensemble. This work represents the first attempt of hybrid discrete-continuous variable quantum state processing with atomic ensembles.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Atomic nonclassicality quasiprobabilities

Although nonclassical quantum states are important both conceptually and as a resource for quantum technology, it is often difficult to test whether a given quantum system displays nonclassicality. A simple method to certify nonclassicality is introduced, based on easily accessible collective atomic quadrature measurements, without the need of full state tomography. The statistics is analyzed beyond the ground-state noise level, by direct sampling of a regularized atomic quadrature quasiprobability. Nonclassicality of a squeezed ensemble of 2x10^5 Cesium atoms is demonstrated, with a significance of up to 23 standard deviations.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

Quantum Memory Assisted Probing of Dynamical Spin Correlations

We propose a method to probe time dependent correlations of non trivial observables in many-body ultracold lattice gases. The scheme uses a quantum non-demolition matter-light interface, first, to map the observable of interest on the many body system into the light and, then, to store coherently such information into an external system acting as a quantum memory. Correlations of the observable at two (or more) instances of time are retrieved with a single final measurement that includes the readout of the quantum memory. Such method brings at reach the study of dynamics of many-body systems in and out of equilibrium by means of quantum memories in the field of quantum simulators.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2011

The effect of light assisted collisions on matter wave coherence in superradiant Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate experimentally the effects of light assisted collisions on the coherence between momentum states in Bose-Einstein condensates. The onset of superradiant Rayleigh scattering serves as a sensitive monitor for matter wave coherence. A subtle interplay of binary and collective effects leads to a profound asymmetry between the two sides of the atomic resonance and provides far bigger coherence loss rates for a condensate bathed in blue detuned light than previously estimated. We present a simplified quantitative model containing the essential physics to explain our experimental data and point at a new experimental route to study strongly coupled light matter systems.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2011

Laser cooling and optical detection of excitations in a LC electrical circuit

We explore a method for laser cooling and optical detection of excitations in a LC electrical circuit. Our approach uses a nanomechanical oscillator as a transducer between optical and electronic excitations. An experimentally feasible system with the oscillator capacitively coupled to the LC and at the same time interacting with light via an optomechanical force is shown to provide strong electro-mechanical coupling. Conditions for improved sensitivity and quantum limited readout of electrical signals with such an "optical loud speaker" are outlined.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2010

Optoelectronic cooling of mechanical modes in a semiconductor nanomembrane

Optical cavity cooling of mechanical resonators has recently become a research frontier. The cooling has been realized with a metal-coated silicon microlever via photo-thermal force and subsequently with dielectric objects via radiation pressure. Here we report cavity cooling with a crystalline semiconductor membrane via a new mechanism, in which the cooling force arises from the interaction between the photo-induced electron-hole pairs and the mechanical modes through the deformation potential coupling. The optoelectronic mechanism is so efficient as to cool a mode down to 4 K from room temperature with just 50 uW of light and a cavity with a finesse of 10 consisting of a standard mirror and the sub-wavelength-thick semiconductor membrane itself. The laser-cooled narrow-band phonon bath realized with semiconductor mechanical resonators may open up a new avenue for photonics and spintronics devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Directly estimating non-classicality

We establish a method of directly measuring and estimating non-classicality - operationally defined in terms of the distinguishability of a given state from one with a positive Wigner function. It allows to certify non-classicality, based on possibly much fewer measurement settings than necessary for obtaining complete tomographic knowledge, and is at the same time equipped with a full certificate. We find that even from measuring two conjugate variables alone, one may infer the non-classicality of quantum mechanical modes. This method also provides a practical tool to eventually certify such features in mechanical degrees of freedom in opto-mechanics. The proof of the result is based on Bochner's theorem characterizing classical and quantum characteristic functions and on semi-definite programming. In this joint theoretical-experimental work we present data from experimental optical Fock state preparation, demonstrating the functioning of the approach.

quant-ph↗