We present a general input-output formalism for the few-photon transport in multiple waveguide channels coupled to a local cavity. Using this formalism, we study the effect of Fano interference in two-photon quantum transport. We show that the physics of Fano interference can manifest as an asymmetric spectral line shape in the frequency dependence of the two-photon correlation function. The two-photon fluorescence spectrum, on the other hand, does not exhibit the physics of Fano interference.
Asymmetric spectral line shapes are a hallmark of interference of a quasi-bound state with a continuum of states. Such line shapes are well known for multichannel systems, for example, in photoionization or Feshbach resonances in molecular scattering. On the other hand, in resonant single channel scattering, the signature of such interference may disappear due to the orthogonality of partial waves. Here, we show that probing the angular dependence of the cross section allows us to unveil asymmetric Fano profiles also in a single channel shape resonance. We observe a shift in the peak of the re…
We propose a Markovian quantum master equation that can describe the Fano effect directly, by assuming a standard cavity quantum electrodynamics system. The framework allows us to generalize the Fano formula, applicable over the weak and strong coupling regimes with pure dephasing. A formulation of its emission spectrum is also given in a consistent manner. We then find that the interference responsible for the Fano effect is robust against pure dephasing. This is counterintuitive because the impact of interference is, in general, severely reduced by decoherence processes. Our approach thus pr…
Interferometry is an indispensable tool across all the natural sciences. Recently, a new type of interferometer based on phase-sensitive Fano resonances has been proposed and implemented. In these Fano interferometers, the two arms are formed by a spectrally broad continuum channel, and a spectrally narrow resonant bound state scattering channel, respectively. We show that the textbook relation between interference visibility and coherence known from double-slit- or Mach-Zehnder-interferometers does not apply to Fano interferometers, because the physical origin of the interference extrema is d…
We obtain an explicit solution for the stationary state populations of a dissipative Fano model, where a discrete excited state is coupled to a continumm set of states; both excited set of states are reachable by photo-excitation from the ground state. The dissipative dynamic is described by a Liouville equation in Lindblad form and the field intensity can take arbitrary values within the model. We show that the continuum states population as a function of laser frequency can always be expressed as a Fano profile plus a Lorentzian function with effective parameters whose explicit expressions a…
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…
The Fano effect or Fano resonance with a characteristically asymmetric line shape originates from quantum interference between direct and indirect transition pathways in continuum-bound coupled systems, and is a ubiquitous phenomenon in atomic, molecular, nuclear and solid-state physics. In optical nanoscale structures, the Fano effect has wide-ranging applications that include optical filtering, sensing, all-optical switching, quantum interferometry and nonlinear optics, and this opens new avenues for photonic devices. The emergent area of ultracold atomic and molecular gases presents an idea…
The Fano effect arises from the interference between a continuum of propagating modes and a localised resonance. By using this resonance as one of the mirrors in an optical cavity, a localised mode with a highly asymmetric line shape is obtained. Placing a single quantum emitter inside the cavity leads to a new regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics, where the light-matter interaction dynamics is fundamentally different from that observed in a conventional cavity with Lorenztian lineshape. Furthermore, when the vibrational dynamics of the emitter is taken into account, an intricate phonon-ph…
A strong optical nonlinearity arises when coherent light is scattered by a semiconductor quantumdot (QD) coupled to a nano-photonic waveguide. We exploit the Fano effect in such a waveguide to control the phase of the quantum interference underpinning the nonlinearity, experimentally demonstrating a tunable quantum optical filter which converts a coherent input state into either a bunched, or antibunched non-classical output state. We show theoretically that the generation of non-classical light is predicated on the formation of a two-photon bound state due to the interaction of the input cohe…
In a previous paper it has been shown that the interference of the first and second order pole of the Green's function at an exceptional point, as well as the interference of the first order poles in the vicinity of the exceptional point, gives rise to asymmetric scattering cross section profiles. In the present paper we demonstrate that these line profiles are indeed well described by the Beutler-Fano formula, and thus are genuine Fano resonances. Also further away from the exceptional points excellent agreement can be found by introducing energy dependent Fano parameters.
Fano resonances and bound states with energy in the continuum are ubiquitous phenomena in different areas of physics. Observations, however, have been limited so far to single-particle processes. In this work we experimentally investigate the multi-particle case and observe Fano interference in a non-interacting two-particle Fano-Anderson model by considering propagation of two-photon states in engineered photonic lattices. We demonstrate that the quantum statistics of the particles, either bosonic or fermionic, strongly affects the decay process. Remarkably, we find that the Fano resonance, w…
We investigate the optical properties of a two-level system (TLS) coupled to a linear series of $N$ other TLS's with dipole-dipole coupling between the first neighbours. The first TLS is probed by weak field and we assume that it has a decay rate much stronger than the decay rates of the other TLS's. For N=1 and in the limit of a probe field much weaker than the dipole-dipole coupling, the optical response of the first TLS, i.e., its absorption and dispersion, are equivalent to those of a three-level atomic system in the configuration which allow one to observe electromagnetically induced tran…
Macroscopically degenerate flat bands (FB) in periodic lattices host compact localized states which appear due to destructive interference and local symmetry. Interference provides a deep connection between the existence of flat band states (FBS) and the appearance of Fano resonances for wave propagation. We introduce generic transformations detangling FBS and dispersive states into lattices of Fano defects. Inverting the transformation, we generate a continuum of FB models. Our procedure allows us to systematically treat perturbations such as disorder and explain the emergence of energy-depen…
It is well known that in open quantum systems resonances can coalesce at an exceptional point, where both the energies {\em and} the wave functions coincide. In contrast to the usual behaviour of the scattering amplitude at one resonance, the coalescence of two resonances invokes a pole of second order in the Green's function, in addition to the usual first order pole. We show that the interference due to the two pole terms of different order gives rise to patterns in the scattering cross section which closely resemble Fano-Feshbach resonances. We demonstrate this by extending previous work on…
Fano effect arising from interference between two dissipation channels to the radiation continuum enables to tune the photon statistics. Understanding the role of Fano effect and exploiting to achieve strong photon correlations are of both fundamental and applied significance. We present an analytical description of Fano-enhanced photon correlations based on cavity quantum electrodynamics to show that, the Fano effect in atom-cavity systems can improve the degree of antibunching by over four orders of magnitude. The enhancement factors and the optimal conditions are explicitly given, and found…
We study the effect of PT-symmetric complex potentials on the transport properties of non-Hermitian systems, which consist of an infinite linear chain and two side-coupled defect points with PT-symmetric complex on-site potentials. By analytically solving the scattering problem of two typical models, which display standard Fano resonances in the absence of non-Hermitian terms, we find that the PT-symmetric imaginary potentials can lead to some pronounced effects on transport properties of our systems, including changes from the perfect reflection to perfect transmission, and rich behaviors for…
In a previous study, we have discovered that nonlinear processes can be enhanced several orders of magnitude due to the path interference effects which are introduced by Fano resonances. Emergence of this phenomenon has been demonstrated also in 3-dimensional solutions of Maxwell equations. However, enhancement has been found to be limited by the decay rate of the plasmonic oscillations. In the present work, we demonstrate that such a limitation can be lifted o? when the path interference from two quantum emitters to a plasmonic resonator (second harmonic converter) is considered. Enhancement …
The single photon transport through a one dimensional array of cavities is studied theoretically. Analytical expressions of the reflection and transmission are given. The transmission shows an energy spectrum with forbidden and allowed bands that depends on the detuning parameter of the system. We show that the allowed miniband is formed due to the indirect coupling between the atoms in each cavity. In addition, the band edges can be controlled by the degree of detuning of the level of the atoms. We discuss the analogy between this phenomenon with the Fano and Dicke effects.
Quantum mechanical scattering involving continuum states coupled to a scatterer with a discrete spectrum gives rise to Fano resonances. Here we consider scatterers that possess internal vibrational degrees of freedom in addition to discrete states. Entanglement between the scattered excitation and vibrational modes complicates analytical and numerical calculations considerably. For the example of one-dimensional scattering we develop a multichannel quantum scattering approach which can determine reflection and transmission probabilities in the presence of vibrations. Application to a linear ch…
Transport properties of massive Dirac particles are investigated through an oscillating barrier. The Floquet quasienergies related to the time-dependent potential appear both in transmission and reflection as sidebands around the incoming electron's energy. We take all relevant sidebands into account and present time averaged transmission and reflection probabilities in a wide energy range. Most qualitative features of scattering on a static barrier -- like Klein paradox -- are still visible, but the transmission probability in the evanescent regime observably increases due to the oscillation …
We explain the Fano peak (an asymmetric resonance peak) as an interference effect involving resonant states. We reveal that there are three types of Fano asymmetry according to their origins: the interference between a resonant state and an anti-resonant state, that between a resonant state and a bound state, and that between two resonant states. We show that the last two show the asymmetric energy dependence given by Fano, but the first one shows a slightly different form. In order to show the above, we analytically and microscopically derive a formula where we express the conductance purely …
Using Chebyshev polynomials, we study the electronic transport properties of massless Dirac fermions in symmetrical graphene superlattice composed of three regions. Matching wavefunctions and using transfer matrix method, we explicitly determine transmission probability as well as the conductance and Fano factor. At vertical Dirac points, we numerically find that the transmission probability shows transmission gaps, conductance has minimums and Fano factor has maximums.
The quantum mechanical decay of two or more overlapped resonances in a common continuum is largely influenced by Fano interference, leading to important phenomena such as the existence of bound states in the continuum, fractional decay and quiescent dynamics for single particle decay, and signature of particle statistics in the many-body quantum decay. An overlooked yet essential requirement to observe Fano interference is time reversal symmetry of the bath. Here we consider multilevel quantum decay in a bath sustaining unidirectional (chiral) propagating states, such as in quantum Hall or in …
The Fano lineshape arises from the interference of two excitation pathways to reach a continuum. Its generality has resulted in a tremendous success in explaining the lineshapes of many one-dimensional spectroscopies - absorption, emission, scattering, conductance, photofragmentation - applied to very varied systems - atoms, molecules, semiconductors and metals. Unravelling a spectroscopy into a second dimension reveals the relationship between states in addition to decongesting the spectra. Femtosecond-resolved two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) is a four-wave mixing technique tha…
