We develop the analytic theory describing the formation and evolution of entangled quantum states for a fermionic quantum emitter coupled to a quantized electromagnetic field in a nanocavity and quantized phonon or mechanical vibrational modes. The theory is applicable to a broad range of cavity quantum optomechanics problems and emerging research on plasmonic nanocavities coupled to single molecules and other quantum emitters. The optimal conditions for a tri-state entanglement are realized near the parametric resonances in a coupled system. The model includes decoherence effects due to coupling of the fermion, photon, and phonon subsystems to their dissipative reservoirs within the stochastic evolution approach, which is derived from the Heisenberg-Langevin formalism. Our theory provides analytic expressions for the time evolution of the quantum state and observables, and the emission spectra. The limit of a classical acoustic pumping and the interplay between parametric and standard one-photon resonances are analyzed.
Resonantly enhanced emission from the zero phonon line of a diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in single crystal diamond is demonstrated experimentally using a hybrid whispering gallery mode nanocavity. A 900 nm diameter ring nanocavity formed from gallium phosphide, whose sidewalls extend into a diamond substrate, is tuned onto resonance at low-temperature with the zero phonon line of a negatively charged NV center implanted near the diamond surface. When the nanocavity is on resonance, the zero phonon line intensity is enhanced by approximately an order of magnitude, and the spontaneous em…
Photonic crystal membranes (PCM) provide a versatile planar platform for on-chip implementations of photonic quantum circuits. One prominent quantum element is a coupled system consisting of a nanocavity and a single quantum dot (QD) which forms a fundamental building block for elaborate quantum information networks and a cavity quantum electrodynamic (cQED) system controlled by single photons. So far no fast tuning mechanism is available to achieve control within the system coherence time. Here we demonstrate dynamic tuning by monochromatic coherent acoustic phonons formed by a surface acoust…
We show that the two-photon transition rates of quantum dots coupled to nanocavities are enhanced by up to 8 orders of magnitude relative to quantum dots in bulk host. We then propose how to take advantage of this enhancement to implement coherent quantum dot excitation by two-photon absorption, entangled photon pair generation by two-photon spontaneous emission, and single-photon generation at telecommunication wavelengths by two-photon stimulated and spontaneous emission.
We propose a method to generate path-entangled $N00N$-state photons from quantum dots (QDs) and coupled nanocavities. In the systems we considered, cavity mode frequencies are tuned close to the biexciton two-photon resonance. Under appropriate conditions, the system can have the target $N00N$ state in the energy eigenstate, as a consequence of destructive quantum interference. The $N00N$ state can be generated by the resonant laser excitation. This method, first introduced for two-photon $N00N$ state ($N=2$), can be extended toward higher $N00N$ state ($N>2$) based on our recipe, which is app…
We study quantum dynamics of many-qubit systems strongly coupled to a quantized electromagnetic cavity field in the presence of decoherence and dissipation for both fermions and cavity photons, and taking into account the varying coupling strength of different qubits to the cavity field and the spread of their transition frequencies. Compact analytic solutions for time-dependent quantum state amplitudes and observables are derived for a broad class of open quantum systems in Lindblad approximation with the use of the stochastic Schroedinger equation approach. We show that depending on the init…
Nonlinear optomechanical coupling is the basis for many potential future experiments in quantum optomechanics (e.g., quantum non-demolition measurements, preparation of non-classical states), which to date have been difficult to realize due to small non-linearity in typical optomechanical devices. Here we introduce an optomechanical system combining strong nonlinear optomechanical coupling, low mass and large optical mode spacing. This nanoscale "paddle nanocavity" supports mechanical resonances with hundreds of fg mass which couple nonlinearly to optical modes with a quadratic optomechanical …
We employ detuning-dependent decay-rate measurements of a quantum dot in a photonic-crystal cavity to study the influence of phonon dephasing in a solid-state quantum-electrodynamics experiment. The experimental data agree with a microscopic non-Markovian model accounting for dephasing from longitudinal acoustic phonons, and identifies the reason for the hitherto unexplained difference between non-resonant cavity feeding in different nanocavities. From the comparison between experiment and theory we extract the effective phonon density of states experienced by the quantum dot. This quantity de…
We propose a realistic protocol for the preparation and readout of mechanical Bell states in an optomechanical system. The proposal relies on parameters characterizing a photonic crystal cavity mode, coupled to two localized flexural modes of the structure, but equally applies to other optomechanical systems in the same parameter range. The nonclassical states are heralded via optical postselection and revealed in specific interference patterns characterizing the emission at the cavity frequency.
Using the deterministic, on-demand generation of two entangled phonons, we demonstrate a quantum eraser protocol in a phononic interferometer where the which-path information can be heralded during the interference process. Omitting the heralding step yields a clear interference pattern in the interfering half-quanta pathways; including the heralding step suppresses this pattern. If we erase the heralded information after the interference has been measured, the interference pattern is recovered, thereby implementing a delayed-choice quantum erasure. The test is implemented using a closed surfa…
We theoretically propose a biphoton entanglement-enhanced multidimensional spectroscopic technique as a probe for the dissipative polariton dynamics in the ultrafast regime. It is applied to the cavity-confined monomeric photosynthetic complex that represents a prototypical multi-site excitonic quantum aggregate. The proposed technique is shown to be particularly sensitive to inter-manifold polariton coherence between the two and one-excitation subspaces. It is demonstrated to be able to monitor the dynamical role of cavity-mediated excitonic correlations, and dephasing in the presence of phon…
Quantum blockade and entanglement play important roles in quantum information and quantum communication as quantum blockade is an effective mechanism to generate single photons (phonons) and entanglement is a crucial resource for quantum information processing. In this work, we propose a method to generate single entangled photon-phonon pairs in a hybrid optomechanical system. We show that photon blockade, phonon blockade, and photon-phonon correlation and entanglement can be observed via the atom-photon-phonon (tripartite) interaction, under the resonant atomic driving. The correlated and ent…
We propose to study novel quantum phases and excitations for a 2D spin-orbit (SO) coupled bosonic $p$-orbital optical lattice based on the recent experiments. The orbital and spin degrees of freedom with SO coupling compete and bring about nontrivial interacting quantum effects. We develop a self-consistent method for bosons and predict a spin-orbital entangled order for the ground phase, in sharp contrast to spinless high-orbital systems. Furthermore, we investigate the Bogoliubov excitations, showing that the Dirac and topological phonons are obtained corresponding to the predicted different…
We analyze the cooling of a mechanical resonator coupled to an ensemble of interacting two-level systems via an open quantum systems approach. Using an exact analytical result, we find optimal cooling occurs when the phonon mode is critically coupled ($γ\sim g$) to the two-level system ensemble. Typical systems operate in sub-optimal cooling regimes due to the intrinsic parameter mismatch ($γ\gg g$) between the dissipative decay rate $γ$ and the coupling factor $g$. To overcome this obstacle, we show that carefully engineering the coupling parameters through the strain profile of the mechanica…
We develop a "chain-boson model" master equation, within the Born-Markov approximation, for a few superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) coupled into a chain and exchanging their angular momenta with a low temperature phonon bath. Our master equation has four generators; we concentrate on the damping and diffusion and use them to study the relaxation and decoherence of a Heisenberg SQUID chain whose spectrum exhibits critical point energy-level crossings, entangled states, and pairs of resonant transitions. We note that at an energy-level crossing the relevant bath wavelengths a…
We theoretically study the entanglement between phonons spontaneously generated in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates by analog Hawking and dynamical Casimir processes. The quantum evolution of the system is numerically modeled by a truncated Wigner method based on a full microscopic description of the condensate and state non-separability is assessed by applying a generalized Peres-Horodecki criterion. The peculiar distribution of entanglement is described in both real and momentum spaces and its robustness against increasing initial temperature is investigated. Viable strategies to experimenta…
We report on exciton-acoustic-phonon coupling effects on the generation of exciton maximally entangled states in N=2 and 3 quantum dot systems. In particular, we address the question of the combined effect of laser pulses, appropriate for generating Bell and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger entangled states, together with decoherence mechanisms as provided by a phonon reservoir. By solving numerically the master equation for the optically driven exciton-phonon kinetics, we show that the generation of maximally entangled exciton states is preserved over a reasonable parameter window.
We theoretically study the non-equilibrium correlations and entanglement between distant semiconductor qubits in a one-dimensional coupled-mechanical-resonator chain. Each qubit is defined by a double quantum dot (DQD) and embedded in a mechanical resonator. The two qubits can be coupled, correlated and entangled through phonon transfer along the resonator chain. We calculate the non-equilibrium correlations and steady-state entanglement at different phonon-phonon coupling rates, and find a maximal steady entanglement induced by a population inversion. The results suggest that highly tunable c…
We propose and theoretically analyze a new scheme for generating hyper-entangled photon pairs in a system of polaritons in coupled planar microcavities. Starting from a microscopic model, we evaluate the relevant parametric scattering processes and numerically simulate the phonon-induced noise background under continuous-wave excitation. Our results show that, compared to other polariton entanglement proposals, our scheme enables the generation of photon pairs that are entangled in both path and polarization degrees of freedom, and simultaneously leads to a strong reduction of the photolumines…
We show how to generate tripartite entanglement in a cavity magnomechanical system which consists of magnons, cavity microwave photons, and phonons. The magnons are embodied by a collective motion of a large number of spins in a macroscopic ferrimagnet, and are driven directly by an electromagnetic field. The cavity photons and magnons are coupled via magnetic dipole interaction, and the magnons and phonons are coupled via magnetostrictive (radiation pressure-like) interaction. We show optimal parameter regimes for achieving the tripartite entanglement where magnons, cavity photons, and phonon…
Low dissipation, tunable coupling to other quantum systems, and unique features of phonons in the aspects of propagation, detection and others suggest the applications of quantized mechanical resonators in phonon-based quantum information processing (QIP) in a way different from their photonic counterpart. In this paper, we propose the first protocol of entanglement concentration for nonlocal phonons from quantized mechanical vibration. We combine the optomechanical cross-Kerr interaction with the Mach-Zehnder interferometer and, by means of twice optomechanical interactions and the photon ana…
Condensed matter systems are potential candidates to realize the integration of quantum information circuits. Surface phonon polariton (SPhP) is a special propagation mode in condensed matter systems. We present an investigation on the entanglement of SPhP modes. The entangled pairs are generated from entangled photons injected to the system. Quantum performances of entangled SPhPs are investigated by using the interaction Hamiltonian and the perturbation theory. The wave mechanics approach is taken to describe the coupling process as a comparison. Finally, the correlation of system is examine…
We propose and demonstrate a versatile technique to measure the lifetime of the one-phonon Fock state using two-color pump-probe Raman scattering and spectrally-resolved, time-correlated photon counting. Following pulsed laser excitation, the $n=1$ phonon Fock state is probabilistically prepared by projective measurement of a single Stokes photon. The detection of an anti-Stokes photon generated by a second, time-delayed laser pulse probes the phonon population with sub-picosecond time resolution. We observe strongly non-classical Stokes--anti-Stokes correlations, whose decay maps the single p…
We show unusual cooperative two-photon resonance between two-modes of field inside a photonic crystal cavity. The two-photon resonance occurs when two off resonant quantum dots emit one photon in each cavity mode and de-excite simultaneously. In the presence of phonon coupling the conditions for two-photon resonance change significantly. Using such two-photon two-mode interaction we propose to generate entangled state of two qutrits. The basis of a qutrit are formed by the state of the cavity mode containing $0$, $1$ and $2$ photons. We also discuss effect of phonon coupling on negativity of t…
Multi-party entangled states have important applications in quantum metrology and quantum computation. Experimental preparation of large entangled state, in particular, the NOON states, however, remains challenging as the particle number $N$ increases. Here we develop a deterministic method to generate arbitrarily high NOON states for phonons and experimentally create the states up to $N=9$ phonons in two radial modes of a single trapped \Yb ion. We demonstrate that the fidelity of the NOON states are significantly above the classical limit by measuring the interference contrast and the popula…
Measuring the quantum dynamics of a mechanical system, when few phonons are involved, remains a challenge. We show that a superconducting microwave resonator linearly coupled to the mechanical mode constitutes a very powerful probe for this scope. This new coupling can be much stronger than the usual radiation pressure interaction by adjusting a gate voltage. We focus on the detection of phonon blockade, showing that it can be observed by measuring the statistics of the light in the cavity. The underlying reason is the formation of an entangled state between the two resonators. Our scheme real…
Bulk diamond phonons have been shown to be a versatile platform for the generation, storage, and manipulation of high-bandwidth quantum states of light. Here we demonstrate a diamond quantum memory that stores, and releases on demand, an arbitrarily polarized $\sim$250 fs duration photonic qubit. The single-mode nature of the memory is overcome by mapping the two degrees of polarization of the qubit, via Raman transitions, onto two spatially distinct optical phonon modes located in the same diamond crystal. The two modes are coherently recombined upon retrieval and quantum process tomography c…
Deterministic coupling of single solid-state emitters to nanocavities is the key for integrated quantum information devices. We here fabricate a photonic crystal cavity around a preselected single silicon-vacancy color center in diamond and demonstrate modification of the emitters internal population dynamics and radiative quantum efficiency. The controlled, room-temperature cavity coupling gives rise to a resonant Purcell enhancement of the zero-phonon transition by a factor of 19, coming along with a 2.5-fold reduction of the emitter's lifetime.
On-demand sources of entangled photons for the transmission of quantum information in the telecom C-band are required to realize fiber-based quantum networks. So far, non-deterministic sources of quantum states of light were used for long distance entanglement distribution in this lowest loss wavelength range. However, they are fundamentally limited in either efficiency or security due to their Poissonian emission statistics. Here, we show on-demand generation of entangled photon pairs in the telecom C-band by an InAs/GaAs semiconductor quantum dot. Using a robust phonon-assisted excitation sc…
We show that the ramp dynamics of phonons in an one-dimensional ion trap can be used for both generating multi-particle entangled states and motional state cooling of a string of trapped ions. We study such ramp dynamics using an effective Bose-Hubbard model which describes these phonons at low energies and show that specific protocols, involving site-specific dynamical tuning of the on-site potential of the model, can be used to generate entangled states and to achieve motional state cooling without involving electronic states of the ions. We compare and contrast our schemes for these to the …
Hybrid spin-mechanical setups offer a versatile platform for quantum science and technology, but improving the spin-phonon as well as the spin-spin couplings of such systems remains a crucial challenge. Here, we propose and analyze an experimentally feasible and simple method for exponentially enhancing the spin-phonon, and the phonon-mediated spin-spin interactions in a hybrid spin-mechanical setup, using only \emph{ linear resources}. Through modulating the spring constant of the mechanical cantilever with a time-dependent pump, we can acquire a tunable and nonlinear (two-phonon) drive to th…
We investigate the generation of photon-phonon entangled states by exploiting stimulated Brillouin scattering in nanoscale waveguides. The squeezing type Hamiltonian that represents creation and annihilation of photon-phonon pairs is obtained out of the multimode photon-phonon interaction Hamiltonian in the presence of a pump field. The Bogoliubov eigenstates of the Hamiltonian, which are a coherent mix of propagating photons and phonons, show squeezing properties in the uncertainties of the collective quadrature operators. The measurement of the photonic component can provide a controllable s…
We study the robustness and fragility of entanglement of open quantum systems in some exactly solvable models in which the decoherence is caused by a pure dephasing process. In particular, for the toy models presented in this paper, we identify two different time scales, one is responsible for local dephasing, while the other is for entanglement decay. For a class of fragile entangled states defined in this paper, we find that the entanglement of two qubits, as measured by concurrence, decays faster asymptotically than the quantum dephasing of an individual qubit.
We study decoherence of a three-qubit array coupled to substrate phonons. Assuming an initial three-qubit entangled state that would be decoherence-free for identical qubit positions, allows us to focus on non-Markovian effects of the inevitable spatial qubit separation. It turns out that the coherence is most affected when the qubits are regularly spaced. Moreover, we find that up to a constant scaling factor, two-qubit entanglement is not influenced by the presence f the third qubit, even though all qubits interact via the phonon field.
Phonons, and in particular surface acoustic wave phonons, have been proposed as a means to coherently couple distant solid-state quantum systems. Recent experiments have shown that superconducting qubits can control and detect individual phonons in a resonant structure, enabling the coherent generation and measurement of complex stationary phonon states. Here, we report the deterministic emission and capture of itinerant surface acoustic wave phonons, enabling the quantum entanglement of two superconducting qubits. Using a 2 mm-long acoustic quantum communication channel, equivalent to a 500 n…
Realising controlled quantum dynamics via the magnetic interactions between colour centers in diamond remains a challenge despite recent demonstrations for nanometer separated pairs. Here we propose to use the intrinsic acoustical phonons in diamond as a data bus for accomplishing this task. We show that for nanodiamonds the electron-phonon coupling can take significant values that together with mode frequencies in the THz range, can serve as a resource for conditional gate operations. Based on these results we analyze how to use this phonon-induced interaction for constructing quantum gates a…
We investigate theoretically the conditions under which a multi-mode nanomechanical resonator, operated as a purely mechanical parametric oscillator, can be driven into highly nonclassical states. We find that when the device can be cooled to near its ground state, and certain mode matching conditions are satisfied, it is possible to prepare distinct resonator modes in quantum entangled states that violate Bell inequalities with homodyne quadrature measurements. We analyze the parameter regimes for such Bell inequality violations, and while experimentally challenging, we believe that the reali…
We show how to generate quadratic and bi-quadratic phonon-photon interactions through a driven three-level ion inside a cavity. With such a system it is possible to squeeze the cavity-field state, the ion motional state or even the entangled phonon-photon state. We present a detailed analysis of the cavity-field squeezing process, distinguishing three different regimes of this amplification mechanism: the subcritical, critical, and supercritical regimes, which depend, apart from the coupling parameters, on the excitation of the vibrational state. As an application of the engineered Hamiltonian…
We study the generation of quantum correlations between two excitonic quantum dot qubits due to their interaction with the same phonon environment. Such generation results from the fact that during the pure dephasing process at finite temperatures, each exciton becomes entangled with the phonon environment. We find that for a wide range of temperatures quantum correlations are created due to the interaction. The temperature-dependence of the amount of correlations created displays a trade-off type behaviour; for small temperatures the phonon-induced distrubance of the qubit states is too small…
We devise a mathematical framework for assessing the fidelity of multi-photon entangled states generated by a single solid-state quantum emitter, such as a quantum dot or a nitrogen-vacancy center. Within this formalism, we theoretically study the role of imperfections present in real systems on the generation of time-bin encoded Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and one-dimensional cluster states. We consider both fundamental limitations, such as the effect of phonon-induced dephasing, interaction with the nuclear spin bath, and second-order emissions, as well as technological imperfections, such a…
Bell's inequality in three coupled quantum dots (QDs) within cavity QED, including Forster and exciton-phonon interactions, is investigated theoretically. For an initially entangled state, Bell's inequality is valid for certain times and violated for some other times. It is shown that the system moves from a product state to a entangled state and back again during it's time evolution.
