arXiv subjects

Jason Twamley

Publications and source records attributed to Jason Twamley.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Shaking photons from the vacuum: acceleration radiation from vibrating atoms

Acceleration radiation - or Unruh radiation - the thermal radiation observed by an ever accelerating observer or detector, although having similarities to Hawking radiation, so far has proved extremely challenging to observe experimentally. One recent suggestion is that, in the presence of a mirror, constant acceleration of an atom in its ground state can excite the atom while at the same time cause it to emit a photon in an Unruh-type process. In this work we show that merely by shaking the atom, in simple harmonic motion for example, can have the same effect. We calculate the transition rate for this in first order perturbation theory and consider harmonic motion of the atom in the presence of a stationary mirror, or within a cavity or just in empty vacuum. For the latter we propose a circuit-QED potential implementation that yields transition rates of $\sim 10^{-4}\,{\rm Hz}$, which may be detectable experimentally.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2019

A Diamond-Photonics Platform Based on Silicon-Vacancy Centers in a Single Crystal Diamond Membrane and a Fiber-Cavity

We realize a potential platform for an efficient spin-photon interface, namely negatively-charged silicon-vacancy centers in a diamond membrane coupled to the mode of a fully-tunable, fiber-based, optical resonator. We demonstrate that introducing the thin ($\sim 200 \, \text{nm}$), single crystal diamond membrane into the mode of the resonator does not change the cavity properties, which is one of the crucial points for an efficient spin-photon interface. In particular, we observe constantly high Finesse values of up to $3000$ and a linear dispersion in the presence of the membrane. We observe cavity-coupled fluorescence froman ensemble of SiV$^{-}$ centers with an enhancement factor of $\sim 1.9$. Furthermore from our investigations we extract the ensemble absorption and extrapolate an absorption cross section of $(2.9 \, \pm \, 2) \, \cdot \, 10^{-12} \, \text{cm}^{2}$ for a single SiV$^{-}$ center, much higher than previously reported.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Single-Nitrogen-vacancy-center quantum memory for a superconducting flux qubit mediated by a ferromagnet

We propose a quantum memory scheme to transfer and store the quantum state of a superconducting flux qubit (FQ) into the electron spin of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond via yttrium iron garnet (YIG), a ferromagnet. Unlike an ensemble of NV centers, the YIG moderator can enhance the effective FQ-NV-center coupling strength without introducing additional appreciable decoherence. We derive the effective interaction between the FQ and the NV center by tracing out the degrees of freedom of the collective mode of the YIG spins. We demonstrate the transfer, storage, and retrieval procedures, taking into account the effects of spontaneous decay and pure dephasing. Using realistic experimental parameters for the FQ, NV center and YIG, we find that a combined transfer, storage, and retrieval fidelity higher than 0.9, with a long storage time of 10 ms, can be achieved. This hybrid system not only acts as a promising quantum memory, but also provides an example of enhanced coupling between various systems through collective degrees of freedom.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

Generating nonclassical states of motion using spontaneous emission

Nonclassical motional states of matter are of interest both from a fundamental perspective but also for their potential technological applications as resources in various quantum processing tasks such as quantum teleportation, sensing, communication, and computation. In this work we explore the motional effects of a harmonically trapped, excited two-level emitter coupled to a one-dimensional (1D) photonic system. As the emitter decays it experiences a momentum recoil that entangles its motion with the emitted photon pulse. In the long-time limit the emitter relaxes to its electronic ground state, while its reduced motional state remains entangled with the outgoing photon. We find photonic systems where the long-time reduced motional state of the emitter, though mixed, is highly nonclassical and in some cases approaches a pure motional Fock state. Motional recoil engineering can be simpler to experimentally implement than complex measurement and feedback based methods to engineer novel quantum mechanical states of motion.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2017

Quantum magnetomechanics: towards the ultra-strong coupling regime

In this paper we investigate a hybrid quantum system comprising a mechanical oscillator coupled via magnetic induced electromotive force to an $LC$ resonator. We derive the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian for this system and find that the interaction can be described by a charge-momentum coupling with a strength that has a strong geometric dependence. We focus our study on a mechanical resonator with a thin-film magnetic coating which interacts with a nano-fabricated planar coil. We determine that the coupling rate between these two systems can enter the strong, ultra-strong, and even deep-strong coupling regimes with experimentally feasible parameters. This magnetomechanical configuration allows for a range of applications including electro-mechanical state transfer and weak-force sensing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Journeys from Quantum Optics to Quantum Technology

Sir Peter Knight is a pioneer in quantum optics which has now grown to an important branch of modern physics to study the foundations and applications of quantum physics. He is leading an effort to develop new technologies from quantum mechanics. In this collection of essays, we recall the time we were working with him as a postdoc or a PhD student and look at how the time with him has influenced our research.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2016

Hybrid quantum gate and entanglement between a "stationary" photonic qubit and a flying optical state via a giant cross Kerr nonlinear effect

Quantum information processing with hybrid protocols making use of discrete- and continuous-variable currently attracts of great interest because of its promising applications in scalable quantum computer and distant quantum network. By inducing a giant cross-Kerr nonlinearity between two cavities, we propose a general protocol for hybrid quantum gate and quantum entanglement with high fidelity between a stationary, discrete photonic qubit and a flying photonic state. Interestingly, our protocol can be used to conduct a controlled-Z quantum gate between a stationary microwave photon stored in a slowly-decaying microwave cavity and a flying optical photon, and therefore enable to build quantum network for distant superconducting quantum circuits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Generating spin squeezing states and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger entanglement using a hybrid phonon-spin ensemble in diamond

Quantum squeezing and entanglement of spins can be used to improve the sensitivity in quantum metrology. Here we propose a scheme to create collective coupling of an ensemble of spins to mechanical vibrational mode actuated by an external magnetic field. We find an evolution time where the mechanical motion decouples from the spins, and the accumulated geometric phase yields a squeezing of $5.9~\text{dB}$ for $20$ spins. We also show the creation of a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger spin state for $20$ spins with a fidelity of $\sim 0.62$ at cryogenic temperature. The numerical simulations show that the geometric-phase based scheme is mostly immune to thermal mechanical noise.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2016

Quantum routing of single optical photons with a superconducting flux qubit

Controlling and swapping quantum information in a quantum coherent way between the microwave and optical regimes is essential for building long-range superconducting quantum networks but extremely challenging. We propose a hybrid quantum interface between the microwave and optical domains where the propagation of a single-photon pulse along a nanowaveguide is controlled in a coherent way by tuning electromagnetically induced transparency window with the quantum state of a flux qubit. The qubit can route a single-photon pulse with a single spin in nanodiamond into a quantum superposition of paths without the aid of an optical cavity - simplifying the setup. By preparing the flux qubit in a superposition state our cavity-less scheme creates a hybrid state-path entanglement between a flying single optical photon and a static superconducting qubit, and can conduct heralded quantum state transfer via measurement.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Detection of a weak magnetic field via cavity enhanced Faraday rotation

We study the sensitive detection of a weak static magnetic field via Faraday rotation induced by an ensemble of spins in a bimodal degenerate microwave cavity. We determine the limit of the resolution for the sensitivity of the magnetometry achieved using either single-photon or multiphoton inputs. For the case of a microwave cavity containing an ensemble of Nitrogen-vacancy defects in diamond, we obtain a magnetometry sensitivity exceeding $0.5~\text{\nano\tesla}/\sqrt{\text{\hertz}}$, utilizing a single photon probe field, while for a multiphoton input we achieve a sensitivity about $1 \text{\femto\tesla}/\sqrt{\text{\hertz}}$, using a coherent probe microwave field with power of $P_\text{in}=1~\text{\nano\watt}$.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Giant enhancement of tunable optomechanical coupling via ultrarefractive medium

Exploring the fundamental quantum behaviour of optomechanical resonators is of great interest recently but requires the realization of the strong coupling regime. We study the optical photon-phonon coupling of the so-called membrane in the middle (MITM) optomechanical system. Using coupled-mode theory we find that the optomechanical coupling is proportional to the electric susceptibility of the membrane. By considering the doping atoms or spins into the membrane and driving these appropriately we induce a tunable ultra-large refractive index without absorption which enhances the optomechanical coupling. Using this we predict an ultra-strong single-optical photon strong coupling with large quantum cooperativity for Er3+ dopants at low temperature, while Cr3+ in a Ruby membrane may display ultra-large quantum cooperativity at room temperature. Our scheme also can tune the strength of the coupling over a wide range and can also control whether the optomechanical force is attractive or repulsive. Our work opens a door for fundamental physics and applications relying on the realization of the strong coupling regime in quantum optomechanical systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Cavity-free nondestructive detection of a single optical photon

Detecting a single photon without absorbing it is a long standing challenge in quantum optics. All experiments demonstrating the nondestructive detection of a photon make use of a high quality cavity. We present a cavity free scheme for nondestructive single-photon detection. By pumping a nonlinear medium we implement an inter-field Rabi-oscillation which leads to a ?pi phase shift on weak probe coherent laser field in the presence of a single signal photon without destroying the signal photon. Our cavity-free scheme operates with a fast intrinsic time scale in comparison with similar cavity-based schemes. We implement a full real-space multimode numerical analysis of the interacting photonic modes and confirm the validity of our nondestructive scheme in the multimode case.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Diabolical points in multi-scatterer optomechanical systems

Diabolical points, which originate from parameter-dependent accidental degeneracies of a system's energy levels, have played a fundamental role in the discovery of the Berry phase as well as in photonics (conical refraction), in chemical dynamics, and more recently in novel materials such as graphene, whose electronic band structure possess Dirac points. Here we discuss diabolical points in an optomechanical system formed by multiple scatterers in an optical cavity with periodic boundary conditions. Such configuration is close to experimental setups using micro-toroidal rings with indentations or near-field scatterers. We find that the optomechanical coupling is no longer an analytic function near the diabolical point and demonstrate the topological phase arising through the mechanical motion. Similar to a Fabry-Perot resonator, the optomechanical coupling can grow with the number of scatterers. We also introduce a minimal quantum model of a diabolical point, which establishes a connection to the motion of an arbitrary-spin particle in a 2D parabolic quantum dot with spin-orbit coupling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Macroscopic superpositions and gravimetry with quantum magnetomechanics

We utilise a magneto-mechanical levitated massive resonator in the quantum regime to prepare highly macroscopic quantum superposition states. Using these macroscopic superpositions we present a novel interferometry protocol to perform absolute gravimetry with a sensitivity that exceeds state of the art atom-interferometric and corner-cube gravimeters by a factor of 20. In addition, our scheme allows probing the gravitational field on a length scale eight orders of magnitude smaller than other methods.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Solid state optical interconnect between distant superconducting quantum chips

We propose a design for a quantum interface exploiting the electron spins in crystals to swap the quantum states between the optical and microwave. Using sideband driving of a superconducting flux qubit and a combined cavity/solid-state spin ensemble Raman transition, we demonstrate how a stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP)-type operation can swap the quantum state between a superconducting flux qubit and an optical cavity mode with a fidelity higher than $90\%$. We further consider two distant superconducting qubits with their respective interfaces joined by an optical fiber and show a quantum transfer fidelity exceeding $90\%$ between the two distant qubits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

An opto-magneto-mechanical quantum interface between distant superconducting qubits

A quantum internet, where widely separated quantum devices are coherently connected, is a fundamental vision for local and global quantum information networks and processing. Superconducting quantum devices can now perform sophisticated quantum engineering locally on chip and a detailed method to achieve coherent optical quantum interconnection between distant superconducting devices is a vital, but highly challenging, goal. We describe a concrete opto-magneto-mechanical system that can interconvert microwave-to-optical quantum information with high fidelity. In one such node we utilise the magnetic fields generated by the supercurrent of a flux qubit to coherently modulate a mechanical oscillator that is part of a high-Q optical cavity to achieve high fidelity microwave-to-optical quantum information exchange. We analyze the transfer between two spatially distant nodes connected by an optical fibre and using currently accessible parameters we predict that the fidelity of transfer could be as high as $\sim 80\%$, even with significant loss.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Self-avoiding quantum walks

Quantum walks exhibit many unique characteristics compared to classical random walks. In the classical setting, self-avoiding random walks have been studied as a variation on the usual classical random walk. Classical self-avoiding random walks have found numerous applications, most notably in the modeling of protein folding. We consider the analogous problem in the quantum setting. We complement a quantum walk with a memory register that records where the walker has previously resided. The walker is then able to avoid returning back to previously visited sites. We parameterise the strength of the memory recording and the strength of the memory back-action on the walker's motion, and investigate their effect on the dynamics of the walk. We find that by manipulating these parameters the walk can be made to reproduce ideal quantum or classical random walk statistics, or a plethora of more elaborate diffusive phenomena. In some parameter regimes we observe a close correspondence between classical self-avoiding random walks and the quantum self-avoiding walk.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Deterministic generation of an on-demand Fock state

We theoretically study the deterministic generation of photon Fock states on-demand using a protocol based on a Jaynes Cummings quantum random walk which includes damping. We then show how each of the steps of this protocol can be implemented in a low temperature solid-state quantum system with a Nitrogen-Vacancy centre in a nano-diamond coupled to a nearby high-Q optical cavity. By controlling the coupling duration between the NV and the cavity via the application of a time dependent Stark shift, and by increasing the decay rate of the NV via stimulated emission depletion (STED) a Fock state with high photon number can be generated on-demand. Our setup can be integrated on a chip and can be accurately controlled.

quant-ph↗