arXiv subjects

P. Grangier

Publications and source records attributed to P. Grangier.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Photoluminescence of single colour defects in 50 nm diamond nanocrystals

We used optical confocal microscopy to study optical properties of diamond 50 nm nanocrystals first irradiated with an electron beam, then dispersed as a colloidal solution and finally deposited on a silica slide. At room temperature, under CW laser excitation at a wavelength of 514.5 nm we observed perfectly photostable single Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) colour defects embedded in the nanocrystals. From the zero-phonon line around 575 nm in the spectrum of emitted light, we infer a neutral NV0 type of defect. Such nanoparticle with intrinsic fluorescence are highly promising for applications in biology where long-term emitting fluorescent bio-compatible nanoprobes are still missing.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Controlled photon emission and Raman transition experiments with a single trapped atom

We present recent results on the coherent control of an optical transition in a single rubidium atom, trapped in an optical tweezer. We excite the atom using resonant light pulses that are short (4 ns) compared with the lifetime of the excited state (26 ns). By varying the intensity of the laser pulses, we can observe an adjustable number of Rabi oscillations, followed by free decay once the light is switched off. To generate the pulses we have developed a novel laser system based on frequency doubling a telecoms laser diode at 1560 nm. By setting the laser intensity to make a pi-pulse, we use this coherent control to make a high quality triggered source of single photons. We obtain an average single photon rate of 9600 s-1 at the detector. Measurements of the second-order temporal correlation function show almost perfect antibunching at zero delay. In addition, we present preliminary results on the use of Raman transitions to couple the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of our trapped atom. This will allow us to prepare and control a qubit formed by two hyperfine sub-levels.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

A frequency-doubled, pulsed laser system for rubidium manipulation

We have constructed a pulsed laser system for the manipulation of cold Rb atoms. The system combines optical telecommunications components and frequency doubling to generate light at 780 nm. Using a fast, fibre-coupled intensity modulator, output from a continuous laser diode is sliced into pulses with a length between 1.3 and 6.1 ns and a repetition frequency of 5 MHz. These pulses are amplified using an erbium-doped fibre amplifier, and frequency-doubled in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal, yielding a peak power up to 12 W. Using the resulting light at 780 nm, we demonstrate Rabi oscillations on the F = 2 <-> F=3-transition of a single 87Rb atom.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Quantum logic via optimal control in holographic dipole traps

We propose a scheme for quantum logic with neutral atoms stored in an array of holographic dipole traps where the positions of the atoms can be rearranged by using holographic optical tweezers. In particular, this allows for the transport of two atoms to the same well where an external control field is used to perform gate operations via the molecular interaction between the atoms. We show that optimal control techniques allow for the fast implementation of the gates with high fidelity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Non-gaussian statistics from individual pulses of squeezed light

We describe the observation of a degaussification protocol that maps individual pulses of squeezed light onto non-Gaussian states. This effect is obtained by sending a small fraction of the squeezed vacuum beam onto an avalanche photodiode, and by conditioning the single-shot homodyne detection of the remaining state upon the photon-counting events. The experimental data provides a clear evidence of phase-dependent non-Gaussian statistics. This protocol is closely related to the first step of an entanglement distillation procedure for continuous variables.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2004

Pulsed homodyne measurements of femtosecond squeezed pulses generated by single-pass parametric deamplification

A new scheme is described for pulsed squeezed light generation using femtosecond pulses parametrically deamplified through a single pass in a thin (0.1mm) potassium niobate KNbO3 crystal, with a significant deamplification of about -3dB. The quantum noise of each individual pulse is registered in the time domain using a single-shot homodyne detection operated with femtosecond pulses and the best squeezed quadrature variance was measured to be 1.87 dB below the shot noise level. Such a scheme provides the basic ressource for time-resolved quantum communication protocols.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2002

Conditional quantum logic using two atomic qubits

In this paper we propose and analyze a feasible scheme where the detection of a single scattered photon from two trapped atoms or ions performs a conditional unitary operation on two qubits. As examples we consider the preparation of all four Bell states, the reverse operation that is a Bell measurement, and a CNOT gate. We study the effect of atomic motion and multiple scattering, by evaluating Bell inequalities violations, and by calculating the CNOT gate fidelity.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2000

Bunching and antibunching from single NV color centers in diamond

We investigate correlations between fluorescence photons emitted by single N-V centers in diamond with respect to the optical excitation power. The autocorrelation function shows clear photon antibunching at short times, proving the uniqueness of the emitting center. We also report on a photon bunching effect, which involves a trapping level. An analysis using rate-equations for the populations of the N-V center levels shows the intensity dependence of the rate equation coefficients.

quant-ph↗