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Emily Haughton

Publications and source records attributed to Emily Haughton.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Entangled Polariton States in the Visible and Mid-Infrared Spectral Ranges

Entanglement generation in polariton systems is fundamentally constrained by high losses and decoherence, which typically outweigh polariton nonlinearities. Here, we propose a conceptually different approach that uses optomechanical interactions, rather than polariton-polariton interactions, to generate entangled polaritons. Our double-resonant scheme relies on strong exciton-phonon coupling, found in both inorganic and molecular semiconductors, enabling room-temperature generation of spectrally disparate photon pairs. The quantum coherent and delocalized nature of polariton states inside optical cavities ensures efficient single-mode outcoupling and allows for unconditional quantum state preparation - not relying on any post-selection or projective measurements. When conditioned on exciton-polariton emission, single phonon-polariton states can be prepared that subsequently yield bright, heralded single-photon emission in the mid-IR/THz. We introduce a double-resonant optomechanical platform that enables scalable, room-temperature quantum polaritonics without relying on conventional excitonic nonlinearities.

quant-ph

Photon condensation from thermal sources and the limits of heat engines

The trapping and cooling of photon gases in microcavities has been used to create Bose-Einstein condensates. We investigate the conditions required for condensation in dye-filled microcavities, with photon populations created either by driving a transition of the dye, or by coupling the cavity modes to a thermal photon reservoir such as sunlight. We find that the threshold pump temperature, above which condensation appears, is determined by the second law of thermodynamics. The minimum achievable threshold is that of a reversible three-level heat engine, which we show arises in the dye-pumped case, and for pumping of the modes of a two-level cavity. For a many-level cavity condensation occurs at a similar but higher temperature. Our results show that photon condensates can be produced by pumping with incoherent thermal sources, opening possibilities for coherent light generation, energy harvesting, and experimental studies of quantum heat engines.

quant-ph