We study the controllable single-photon transport in a one-dimensional (1D) waveguide with nonlinear dispersion relation coupled to a three-level emitter in cascade configuration. An extra cavity field was introduced to drive one of the level transitions of the emitter. In the resonance case, when the extra cavity does not contain photons, the input single photon will be reflected, and when the cavity contains one photon, the full transmission of the input single photon can be obtained. In the off-resonance case, the single-photon transport can also be controlled by the parameters of the cavity. Therefore, we have shown that the single-photon transport can be controlled by an extra cavity field.
We explore theoretically the single-photon transport in a single-mode waveguide that is coupled to a hybrid atom-optomechanical system in a strong optomechanical coupling regime. Using a full quantum real-space approach, transmission and reflection coefficients of the propagating single-photon in the waveguide are ob- tained. The influences of atom-cavity detuning and the dissipation of atom on the transport are also studied. Intriguingly, the obtained spectral features can reveal the strong light-matter interaction in this hybrid system.
We study the transport and quantum walk of nonclassical light in an array of coupled waveguides which have novel properties like very low decoherence and thus making them ideal for storage of quantum information. We show how squeezing gets turned over from one waveguide to another. We further show how input nonclassical light can generate entanglement among different waveguides. Our results involve both first quantization due to array structure and second quantization due to the quantum nature of fields and can also be used to discuss the Talbot effect in the quantum regime.
We identify a general connection between the physics of exceptional points in non-Hermitian systems and the few-photon bound states in waveguide quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems. We show that, in waveguide QED systems where the local quantum system exhibits an exceptional point, the tightest-bound few-photon bound state occurs at the exceptional point. We illustrate this connection with an explicit computation on a waveguide QED system in which a waveguide is coupled to a Jaynes-Cummings system. Our result provides a quantum signature of the exceptional point physics and indicates that th…
We analyze the single-photon transport in a single-mode waveguide coupled to a whispering-gallery-type resonator interacting with a two-level atom. The single-photon transport properties such as the transmission and reflection amplitudes, as well as the resonator and the atom responses, are solved exactly via a real-space approach. The treatment includes the inter-mode backscattering between the two degenerate whispering gallery modes of the resonator, and the dissipations of the resonator and the atom. We also show that a generalized critical coupling condition, that the single-photon transmi…
The single-photon transport in a single-mode waveguide, coupled to a cavity embedded with a two-leval atom is analyzed. The single-photon transmission and reflection amplitudes, as well as the cavity and the atom excitation amplitudes, are solved exactly via a real-space approach. It is shown that the dissipation of the cavity and of the atom respectively affects distinctively on the transport properties of the photons, and on the relative phase between the excitation amplitudes of the cavity mode and the atom.
Quantum networks provide a prominent platform for realizing quantum information processing and quantum communication, with entanglement being a key resource in such applications. Here, we describe the dissipative transport protocol for entangled states, where entanglement stored in the first node of quantum network can be transported with high fidelity to the second node via a 1D chiral waveguide. In particular, we exploit the directional asymmetry in chirally-coupled single-mode ring resonators to transport entangled states. For the fully chiral waveguide, Bell states, multipartite $W$-states…
We show that two-photon transport is strongly correlated in one-dimensional waveguide coupled to a two-level system. The exact S-matrix is constructed using a generalized Bethe-Ansatz technique. We show that the scattering eigenstates of this system include a two-photon bound state that passes through the two-level system as a composite single particle. Also, the two-level system can induce effective attractive or repulsive interactions in space for photons. This general procedure can be applied to the Anderson model as well.
We investigate the transport properties of two photons inside a one-dimensional waveguide side-coupled to a single-mode nonlinear cavity. The cavity is filled with a nonlinear Kerr medium. Based on the Laplace transform method, we present analytic solution of quantum states of the transmitted and reflected two photons, which are initially prepared in a Lorentzian wave packet. The solution reveals how quantum correlation between the two photons emerge after the scattering by the nonlinear cavity. In particular, we show that the output wave function of the two photons in position space can be lo…
We develop a general dynamical theory for studying a single photon transport in a one-dimensional (1D) waveguide coupled to multiple emitters which can be either identical or non-identical. In this theory, both the effects of the waveguide and non-waveguide vacuum modes are included. This theory enables us to investigate the propagation of an emitter excitation or an arbitrary single photon pulse along an array of emitters coupled to a 1D waveguide. The dipole-dipole interaction induced by the non-waveguide modes, which is usually neglected in the literatures, can significantly modify the dyna…
We observe the continuous emission of photons into a waveguide from a superconducting qubit without the application of an external drive. To explain this observation, we build a two-bath model where the qubit couples simultaneously to a cold bath (the waveguide) and a hot bath (a secondary environment). Our results show that the thermal-photon occupation of the hot bath is up to 0.14 photons, 35 times larger than the cold waveguide, leading to nonequilibrium heat transport with a power of up to 132 zW, as estimated from the qubit emission spectrum. By adding more isolation between the sample o…
We calculate the one- and two-photon scattering matrices of a pair of collocated non-identical two-level atoms coupled to a waveguide. We show that by proper choice of a two-photon input, the background fluorescence by the atoms may be completely quenched, as a result of quantum interference, and that when the atoms' detuning is smaller than their linewidths, extremely narrow fluorescence features emerge. Furthermore, the system emits a two-photon bound state which can display spatial oscillations/quantum beats, and can be tuned from bunched to anti-bunched statistics as the total photon energ…
We investigate coherent single-photon transport in a waveguide-QED structure containing two giant atoms. The unified analytical expressions of the single-photon scattering amplitudes applicable for different topological configurations are derived. The spectroscopic characteristics in different parameter regimes, especially the asymmetric Fano line shapes and the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)-like spectra, are analyzed in detail. Specifically, we find that the appearance of Fano line shapes is influenced by not only the phase delays between coupling points but also the topologi…
We theoretically investigate the transport properties of a weak coherent input field scattered by an ensemble of $Λ$-type atoms coupled to a one-dimensional photonic crystal waveguide. In our model, the atoms are randomly located in the lattice along the crystal axis. We analyze the transmission spectrum mediated by the tunable long-range atomic interactions, and observe the highest-energy dip. The results show that the highest-energy dip location is associated with the number of the atoms, which provides an accurate measuring tool for the emitter-waveguide system. We also quantify the influen…
We investigate single photon scattering properties in one-dimensional waveguide coupled to quantum emitter's chain with dipole-dipole interaction (DDI). The photon transport is extremely sensitive to the location of the evanescently coupled emitters. The analytical expressions of reflection and transmission amplitudes for the chain containing two emitters with DDI are deduced by using real-space Hamiltonian. Two cases, where the two emitters symmetrically and asymmetrically couple to the waveguide, are discussed in detail. It shows that the reflection and transmission typical spectra split int…
We present a theoretical study of Fano interference effects in few-photon transport. Under appropriate conditions, a local defect in an optical waveguide induces a highly asymmetric transmission lineshape, characteristic of Fano interference. For a two-level emitter placed adjacent to such a defect, here modeled as a partially transmitting element, we find an analytical expression for the full time evolution of single-photon wavepackets and the emitter excitation probability. We show how the partially transmitting element affects the emitter lifetime and shifts the spectral position of the eff…
We study the transverse-size effect of a quasi-one-dimensional rectangular waveguide on the single-photon scattering on a two-level system. We calculate the transmission and reflection coefficients for single incident photons using the scattering formalism based on the Lippmann-Schwinger equation. When the transverse size of the waveguide is larger than a critical size, we find that the transverse mode will be involved in the single-photon scattering. Including the coupling to a higher traverse mode, we find that the photon in the lowest channel will be lost into the other channel, correspondi…
We extend the input-output formalism of quantum optics to analyze few-photon transport in waveguides with an embedded qubit. We provide explicit analytical derivations for one and two-photon scattering matrix elements based on operator equations in the Heisenberg picture.
We investigate the single-photon propagation in the one-dimensional waveguide coupled to $N$ two-level atoms. For a waveguide coupled to $N$ distant atoms, the transparency can be induced by coherent interaction at resonance for an $even$ $number$ of $N$, while for an $odd$ $number$ of $N$, the photon can be fully reflected. We then can switch the photon transport by controlling the atomic number. For a waveguide coupled to a small atomic ensemble of $N$ atoms in the same position, the transparency disappears, and the photonic transport property displays a jump behavior near the resonance poin…
Employing tight-binding approximation we derive a transfer matrix formalism for one-dimensional single photon transport through a composite scattering center, which consists of parallel connected resonator optical waveguides. By solving the single-mode eigenvectors of the Hamiltonian, we investigate the quantum interference effects of parallel couplings on the photon transport through this parallel waveguide structure. We find a perfect reflection regime determined by the number of coupled resonator waveguides. Numerical analysis reveals that by changing atom transition frequency, the window o…
The ubiquity of optical communications is due in large part to the advent of the optical fibre, which allows for flexible and efficient routing of light-encoded information. Used as serial channels, single fibres have also been shown to be effective to transport quantum information, for instance in commercial quantum key distribution systems. As fibre technology progresses to support the transmission of full images, e.g. in endoscopic devices, the question arises whether this technology is also suitable for the parallel transport of spatial quantum information, such as quantum images. Here we …
We present a semiconductor master equation technique to study the input/output characteristics of coherent photon transport in a semiconductor waveguide-cavity system containing a single quantum dot. We use this approach to investigate the effects of photon propagation and anharmonic cavity-QED for various dot-cavity interaction strengths, including weakly-coupled, intermediately-coupled, and strongly-coupled regimes. We demonstrate that for mean photon numbers much less than 0.1, the commonly adopted weak excitation (single quantum) approximation breaks down, even in the weak coupling regime.…
We study the dynamics of a single photon pulse travels through a linear atomic chain coupled to a one-dimensional (1D) single mode photonic waveguide. We derive a time-dependent dynamical theory for this collective many-body system which allows us to study the real time evolution of the photon transport and the atomic excitations. Our analytical result is consistent with previous numerical calculations when there is only one atom. For an atomic chain, the collective interaction between the atoms mediated by the waveguide mode can significantly change the dynamics of the system. The reflectivit…
Here we show a direct mapping between waveguide theory and spin chain transport, opening an alternative approach to quantum information transport in the solid-state. By applying temporally varying control profiles to a spin chain, we design a virtual waveguide or 'spin-guide' to conduct individual spin excitations along defined space-time trajectories of the chain. We explicitly show that the concepts of confinement, adiabatic bend loss and beamsplitting can be mapped from optical waveguide theory to spin-guides (and hence 'spin-splitters'). Importantly, the spatial scale of applied control pu…
We present a theoretical technique for solving the quantum transport problem of a few photons through a one-dimensional, strongly nonlinear waveguide. We specifically consider the situation where the evolution of the optical field is governed by the quantum nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE). Although this kind of nonlinearity is quite general, we focus on a realistic implementation involving cold atoms loaded in a hollow-core optical fiber, where the atomic system provides a tunable nonlinearity that can be large even at a single-photon level. In particular, we show that when the interacti…
We study the photon-photon correlation properties of two-photon transport in a one-dimensional waveguide coupled to a nonlinear cavity via a real-space approach. It is shown that the intrinsic dissipation of the nonlinear cavity has an important effect upon the correlation of the transported photons. More importantly, strongly correlated photons can be obtained in the transmitted photons even when the nonlinear interaction strength is weak in the cavity. The strong photon-photon correlation is induced by the Fano resonance involving destructive interference between the plane wave and bound sta…
We consider a system where a waveguide is coupled to a cavity embedded with a two-level system (TLS), and study the effects when a two-photon quantum state is injected into the waveguide. The wave function of two outgoing photons is exactly solved using the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann (LSZ) reduction formalism. Our results explicitly exhibit the photon blockade effects in the strong atom-cavity coupling regime. The quantum statistical characters of the outgoing photons, including the photon bunching and anti-bunching behaviors, are also investigated in both the strong and weak coupling regimes…
We address correlated few-photon transport in one-dimensional waveguides coupled to a two-level system (TLS), such as an atom or a quantum dot. We derive exactly the single-photon and two-photon current (transmission) for linear and nonlinear (tight-binding sinusoidal) energy-momentum dispersion relations of photons in the waveguides and compare the results for the different dispersions. A large enhancement of the two-photon current for the sinusoidal dispersion has been seen at a certain transition energy of the TLS away from the single-photon resonances.
In this paper, we develop a quantum transport theory to describe photonic transport in photonic networks. The photonic networks concerned in the paper consist of all-optical circuits incorporating photonic bandgap waveguides and driven resonators. The photonic transport flowing through waveguides are entirely determined from the exact master equation of the driven resonators. The master equation of the driven resonators is obtained by explicitly eliminating all the waveguide degrees of freedom while the back-reactions between resonators and waveguides are fully taken into account. The relation…
Architectures based on waveguide quantum electrodynamics have emerged as promising candidates for quantum networks. In this paper, we analyze the propagation of single-photons in disordered many-atom waveguides. We pay special attention to the influence of chirality (directionality of photon transport) on the formation of localized photonic states, considering separately the cases of the disorder in the atomic positions and in the atomic transition frequencies.
We show that strongly correlated photon transport can be observed in waveguides containing optically dense ensembles of emitters. Remarkably, this occurs even for weak coupling efficiencies. Specifically, we compute the photon transport properties through a chirally coupled system of $N$ two-level systems driven by a weak coherent field, where each emitter can also scatter photons out of the waveguide. The photon correlations arise due to an interplay of nonlinearity and coupling to a loss reservoir, which creates a strong effective interaction between transmitted photons. The highly correlate…
We study the transport of a single photon in two coupled one-dimensional semi-infinite coupled-resonator waveguides (CRWs), in which both end sides are coupled to a dissipative cavity. We demonstrate that a single photon can transfer from one semi-infinite CRW to the other nonreciprocally. Based on such nonreciprocity, we further construct a three-port single-photon circulator by a T-shaped waveguide, in which three semi-infinite CRWs are pairwise mutually coupled to each other. The single-photon nonreciprocal transport is induced by the breaking of the time-reversal symmetry and the optimal c…
A transport theory for atomic matter waves in low-dimensional waveguides is outlined. The thermal fluctuation spectrum of magnetic near fields leaking out of metallic microstructures is estimated. The corresponding scattering rate for paramagnetic atoms turns out to be quite large in micrometer-sized waveguides (approx. 100/s). Analytical estimates for the heating and decoherence of a cold atom cloud are given. We finally discuss numerical and analytical results for the scattering from static potential imperfections and the ensuing spatial diffusion process.
We study single photon transport in a one-dimensional disordered lattice of three-level atoms coupled to an optical waveguide. In particular, we study atoms of Λ-type that are capable of exhibiting electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and separately consider disorder in the atomic positions and transition frequencies. We mainly address the question of how preferential emission into waveguide modes (chirality) can influence the formation of spatially localized states. Our work has relevance to experimental studies of cold atoms coupled to nanoscale waveguides and has possible applicat…
Superconducting metamaterials, which are designed and fabricated with structured fundamental circuit elements, have motivated recent developments of exploring unconventional quantum phenomena in circuit quantum electrodynamics (circuit-QED). We propose a method to engineer 1D Josephson metamaterial as a chiral waveguide by considering a programmed spatiotemporal modulation on its effective impedance. The modulation currents are in the form of traveling waves which phase velocities are much slower than the propagation speed of microwave photons. Due to the Brillouin-scattering process, non-triv…
We analyze the dynamics of single photon transport in a single-mode waveguide coupled to a micro-optical resonator using a fully quantum mechanical model. We examine the propagation of a single-photon Gaussian packet through the system under various coupling conditions. We review the theory of single photon transport phenomena as applied to the system and we develop a discussion on the numerical technique we used to solve for dynamical behavior of the quantized field. To demonstrate our method and to establish robust single photon results, we study the process of adiabatically lowering or rais…
Motivated by a recent prediction to engineer the dispersion relation of a waveguide constructed from atomic components [arXiv:2104.08121], we explore the possibility to create directional transport in an open, collective quantum system. The optical response of the atomic waveguide is characterized through a scattering-matrix formalism built upon theories of photoelectric detection that allows us to find the required conditions for directional mode-to-mode transmission to occur and be measured in an experimental setting. We find that directional waveguides allow for an efficient outcoupling of …
We show that a synthetic pseudospin-momentum coupling can be used to design quasi-one-dimensional disorder-resistant coupled resonator optical waveguides (CROW). In this structure, the propagating Bloch waves exhibit a pseudospin-momentum locking at specific momenta where backscattering is suppressed. We quantify this resistance to disorder using two methods. First, we calculate the Anderson localization length $ξ$, obtaining an order of magnitude enhancement compared to a conventional CROW for typical device parameters. Second, we study propagation in the time domain, finding that the loss of…
Transport phenomena on a quantum scale appear in a variety of systems, ranging from photosynthetic complexes to engineered quantum devices. It has been predicted that the efficiency of quantum transport can be enhanced through dynamic interaction between the system and a noisy environment. We report the first experimental demonstration of such environment-assisted quantum transport, using an engineered network of laser-written waveguides, with relative energies and inter-waveguide couplings tailored to yield the desired Hamiltonian. Controllable decoherence is simulated via broadening the band…
We study controllable single photon scattering in a one-dimensional waveguide coupling with an additional cavity by second order nonlinear materials in a non-cascading configuration, where the additional cavity is embedded with two-level atom and filled with Kerr-nonlinear materials. Considering the second order nonlinear coupling, we analyze the transmission properties of the three different coupling forms as follows: (i) The two-level atom is excited without the Kerr-nonlinearity. (ii)The Kerr-nonlinearity is excited without the two-level atom. (iii) Both of the two-level atom and Kerr-nonli…
We examine the propagation of single photons in periodic and disordered dimer chains coupled to one-dimensional chiral and bidirectional waveguides. Each dimer is composed of two dipole-coupled atoms. In the disordered setting, we separately treat two types of position disorder, namely in dimer length and in dimer separation. The focus of this study is to understand in what ways the interplay between dipole-dipole interactions and directionality of photon emission can impact the transport of single photons. Cold atoms trapped near optical fibers can serve as an experimentally realizable platfo…
Few-photon transport via waveguide-coupled local quantum systems has attracted extensive theoretical and experimental studies. Most of the study has focused on atomic or atomic-like local quantum systems due to their strong light-matter interaction useful for quantum applications. Here, we study few-photon transport via a waveguide-coupled multimode optical cavity with second-order bulk nonlinearity. We develop a Feynman diagram approach and compute the scattering matrix of the one- and two-photon transport. Based on the calculated scattering matrix, we show highly nonclassical photonic effect…
We study the single-photon transport in a single-mode waveguide, in which two-level atoms in spatial superpositions are embedded. We find that the transmission of the photon can be used as a non-destructive probe for coherence of the superposition. The protocol proposed is shown to be independent of the distance between the wells in which the atoms are trapped. Furthermore, we show that by looking at the transmission in a suitable regime, a maximally entangled state can be post-selected from an unknown superposition.
We consider the interaction of one- and two-photon pulses in a waveguide with two two-level systems (TLS) that are also able to interact directly either through an exchange- or a dipole-type interaction. We focus on the system's transport properties and show how the presence of a second TLS increases the control options, especially when direct interactions are also allowed. We also obtain, within a Markov (long pulse) approximation, exact results for the nonlinear or entangled terms that arise in the two-photon case, and discuss both their potential applications and ways to minimize their effe…
We study the coherent transport of one or two photons in a 1D waveguide chirally coupled to a nonlinear resonator. Analytic solutions of the one-photon and two-photon scattering is derived. Although the resonator acts as a non-reciprocal phase shifter, light transmission is reciprocal at one-photon level. However, the forward and reverse transmitted probabilities for two photons incident from either the left side or the right side of the nonlinear resonator are nonreciprocal due to the energy redistribution of the two-photon bound state. Hence, the nonlinear resonator acts as an optical diode …
An analogy is explored between a setup of three atomic traps coupled via tunneling and an internal atomic three-level system interacting with two laser fields. Within this scenario we describe a STIRAP like process which allows to move an atom between the ground states of two trapping potentials and analyze its robustness. This analogy is extended to other robust and coherent transport schemes and to systems of more than a single atom. Finally it is applied to manipulate external degrees of freedom of atomic wave packets propagating in waveguides.
We analyze coherent transport of photons, which propagate in a one-dimensional coupled-resonator waveguide (CRW) and are scattered by a controllable two-level system located inside the CRW. Our approach, which uses discrete coordinates, unifies "low" and "high" energy effective theories for single photon scattering. We show that the controllable two-level system can behave as a quantum switch for the coherent transport of photons. This study may inspire new electro-optical single-photon quantum devices. We also suggest an experimental setup based on superconducting transmission line resonators…
At the quantum many-body level, atom-light interfaces generally remain challenging to solve for or understand in a non-perturbative fashion. Here, we consider a waveguide quantum electrodynamics model, where two-level atoms interact with and via propagating photons in a one-dimensional waveguide, and specifically investigate the interplay of atomic position disorder, multiple scattering of light, quantum nonlinear interactions and dissipation. We develop qualitative arguments and present numerical evidence that such a system exhibits a many-body localized~(MBL) phase, provided that atoms are l…
We investigate the two-photon transport through a waveguide side-coupling to a whispering-gallery-atom system. Using the Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann (LSZ) reduction approach, we present the general formula for the two-photon processes including the two-photon scattering matrices, the wavefunctions and the second order correlation functions of the out-going photons. Based on the exact results of the second order correlation functions, we analyze the quantum statistics behaviors of the out-going photons for two different cases: (a) the ideal case without the inter-modal coupling in the whisperin…
Light transport in a disordered ensemble of resonant atoms placed in a waveguide is found to be very sensitive to the sizes of cross section of a waveguide. Based on self-consistent quantum microscopic model treating atoms as coherent radiating dipoles, we have shown that the nature of radiation transfer changes from Anderson localization regime in a single-mode waveguide to a traditional diffuse transfer in a multi-mode one. Moreover, the transmittance magnitude undergoes complex step-like dependence on the transverse sizes of a waveguide.
Light transport in periodic waveguides coupled to a two-level atom is investigated. By using optical Bloch equations and a photonic modal formalism, we derive semi-analytical expressions for the scattering matrix of one atom trapped in a periodic waveguide. The derivation is general, as the expressions hold for any periodic photonic or plasmonic waveguides. It provides a basic building block to study collective effects arising from photon-mediated multi-atom interactions in periodic waveguides.
