arXiv subjects

Victoria A. Norman

Publications and source records attributed to Victoria A. Norman.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Cryogenic Systems for Quantum Photonic Technologies: A Practical Review

While nonclassical light sources are fundamental to quantum communication and computing, solid-state platforms like color centers and quantum dots require cryogenic temperatures to reach the performance levels necessary for practical applications. Over the past decade, low-temperature engineering has transitioned from manual handling of liquid cryogens to automated closed-cycle cryostats. This review details the principles behind modern cooling hardware ranging from flow cryostats to mechanical cryocoolers and dilution refrigerators, with a specific focus on the requirements of optical quantum devices. Aimed at the practicing scientist, this overview provides the technical insights and historical context needed to navigate the current cryogenic landscape and evaluate its role in the future of quantum technology deployment.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Observation of Photon Blockade in a Tavis-Cummings System

We observe blockade of microwave photons in a Tavis-Cummings system comprising a superconducting cavity and up to $N=3$ transmon qubits. The effect is characterized with photon number-resolving spectroscopy using an additional dispersively coupled transmon "witness" qubit to directly probe the cavity's photon number distribution. We first observe polariton formation with splitting proportional to $\sqrt{N}$, confirming the Tavis-Cummings coupling, and subsequently obtain sub-Poissonian cavity photon statistics when the cavity is driven at polariton frequencies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Sub-2 Kelvin characterization of nitrogen-vacancy centers in silicon carbide nanopillars

The development of efficient quantum communication technologies depends on the innovation in multiple layers of its implementation, a challenge we address from the fundamental properties of the physical system at the nano-scale to the instrumentation level at the macro-scale. We select a promising near infrared quantum emitter, the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in 4H-SiC, and integrate it, at an ensemble level, with nanopillar structures that enhance photon collection efficiency into an objective lens. Moreover, changes in collection efficiency in pillars compared to bulk can serve as indicators of color center orientation in the lattice. To characterize NV center properties at the unprecedented sub-2 Kelvin temperatures, we incorporate compatible superconducting nanowire single photon detectors inside the chamber of an optical cryostat and create the ICECAP, the Integrated Cryogenic system for Emission, Collection And Photon-detection. ICECAP measurements show no significant linewidth broadening of NV ensemble emission and up to 14-fold enhancement in collected emission. With additional filtering, we measure emitter lifetimes of NV centers in a basal ($hk$) and an axial ($kk$) orientation unveiling their cryogenic values of 2.2 ns and 2.8 ns.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Digital Quantum Simulation of Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics: Insights from Superconducting and Trapped Ion Quantum Testbeds

We explore the potential for hybrid development of quantum hardware where currently available quantum computers simulate open Cavity Quantum Electrodynamical (CQED) systems for applications in optical quantum communication, simulation and computing. Our simulations make use of a recent quantum algorithm that maps the dynamics of a singly excited open Tavis-Cummings model containing N atoms coupled to a lossy cavity. We report the results of executing this algorithm on two noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers: a superconducting processor and a trapped ion processor, to simulate the population dynamics of an open CQED system featuring N = 3 atoms. By applying technology-specific transpilation and error mitigation techniques, we minimize the impact of gate errors, noise, and decoherence in each hardware platform, obtaining results which agree closely with the exact solution of the system. These results can be used as a recipe for efficient and platform-specific quantum simulation of cavity-emitter systems on contemporary and future quantum computers.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

Wafer-Scale Integration of Freestanding Photonic Devices with Color Centers in Silicon Carbide

Color center platforms have been at the forefront of quantum nanophotonics for applications in quantum networking, computing, and sensing. However, large-scale deployment of this technology has been stifled by a lack of ability to integrate photonic devices at scale while maintaining the properties of quantum emitters. We address this challenge in silicon carbide which has both commercially available wafer-scale substrates and is a host to color centers with desirable optical and spin properties. Using ion beam etching at an angle, we develop a 5-inch wafer process for the fabrication of triangular cross-section photonic devices in bulk 4H-SiC. The developed process has a variability in etch rate and etch angle of 5.4% and 2.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the integrated color centers maintain their optical properties after the etch, thus achieving the nanofabrication goal of wafer-scale nanofabrication in quantum-grade silicon carbide.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2024

Polariton Creation in Coupled Cavity Arrays with Spectrally Disordered Emitters

Integrated photonics has been a promising platform for analog quantum simulation of condensed matter phenomena in strongly correlated systems. To that end, we explore the implementation of all-photonic quantum simulators in coupled cavity arrays with integrated ensembles of spectrally disordered emitters. Our model is reflective of color center ensembles integrated into photonic crystal cavity arrays. Using the Quantum Master Equation and the Effective Hamiltonian approaches, we study energy band formation and wavefunction properties in the open quantum Tavis-Cummings-Hubbard framework. We find conditions for polariton creation and (de)localization under experimentally relevant values of disorder in emitter frequencies, cavity resonance frequencies, and emitter-cavity coupling rates. To quantify these properties, we introduce two metrics, the polaritonic and nodal participation ratios, that characterize the light-matter hybridization and the node delocalization of the wavefunction, respectively. These new metrics combined with the Effective Hamiltonian approach prove to be a powerful toolbox for cavity quantum electrodynamical engineering of solid-state systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quantum Information Processing With Integrated Silicon Carbide Photonics

Color centers in wide band gap semiconductors are prominent candidates for solid-state quantum technologies due to their attractive properties including optical interfacing, long coherence times, spin-photon and spin-spin entanglement, as well as the potential for scalability. Silicon carbide color centers integrated into photonic devices span a wide range of applications in quantum information processing, in a material platform with quantum-grade wafer availability and advanced processing capabilities. Recent progress in emitter generation and characterization, nanofabrication, device design, and quantum optical studies have amplified the scientific interest in this platform. We provide a conceptual and quantitative analysis of the role of silicon carbide integrated photonics in three key application areas: quantum networking, simulation, and computing.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Quantum photonics in triangular-cross-section nanodevices in silicon carbide

Silicon carbide is evolving as a prominent solid-state platform for the realization of quantum information processing hardware. Angle-etched nanodevices are emerging as a solution to photonic integration in bulk substrates where color centers are best defined. We model triangular cross-section waveguides and photonic crystal cavities using Finite-Difference Time-Domain and Finite-Difference Eigensolver approaches. We analyze optimal color center positioning within the modes of these devices and provide estimates on achievable Purcell enhancement in nanocavities with applications in quantum communications. Using open quantum system modeling, we explore emitter-cavity interactions of multiple non-identical color centers coupled to both a single cavity and a photonic crystal molecule in SiC. We observe polariton and subradiant state formation in the cavity-protected regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics applicable in quantum simulation.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2018

Distinct differences in the nanoscale behaviors of the twist-bend liquid crystal phase of a flexible linear trimer and homologous dimer

We synthesized the liquid crystal dimer and trimer members of a series of flexible linear oligomers and characterized their microscopic and nanoscopic properties using resonant soft x-ray scattering and a number of other experimental techniques. On the microscopic scale, the twist-bend phases of the dimer and trimer appear essentially identical. However, while the liquid crystal dimer exhibits a temperature-dependent variation of its twist-bend helical pitch varying from 100 - 170 Å on heating, the trimer exhibits an essentially temperature-independent pitch of 66 Å, significantly shorter than those reported for other twist-bend forming materials in the literature. We attribute this to a specific combination of intrinsic conformational bend of the trimer molecules and a sterically favorable intercalation of the trimers over a commensurate fraction (two-thirds) of the molecular length. We develop a geometric model of the twist-bend phase for these materials with the molecules arranging into helical chain structures, and we fully determine their respective geometric parameters.

cond-mat.soft↗