The coupling of light to ensembles of strongly interacting Rydberg atoms via electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) has emerged as a particularly promising approach towards quantum nonlinear optics, allowing freely propagating photons to acquire long-ranged effective interactions of unprecedented strength. This thesis explores different photon interaction mechanisms enabled by this general approach, and examines how these can be utilized for various different practical applications.
Considering dissipative photon interactions, we first examine the effect of blockade-induced photon scattering on the spatial coherence of collective Rydberg excitations stored in an atomic medium, and how this influences the efficiency of photon storage and retrieval. Based on this developed understanding, we examine the performance of single-photon switching capabilities enabled by dissipative scattering and establish optimized switching protocols over a range of parameters. We then generalize this to consider the many-body decoherence of multiple stored excitations. Here we identify a correlated coherence protection mechanism in which photon scattering from one excitation can preserve the spatial coherence of all others in the medium, and consider the utility of this effect for implementing robust single-photon subtraction.
We then outline a new approach towards coherent quantum nonlinear optics via Rydberg-EIT, in which the emergent photon interaction features intrinsically suppressed photon losses. The underlying idea exploits Rydberg blockade to modify rather than break EIT conditions for multiple photons in close proximity, the effect of which alters the underlying dispersion relation of light propagation in a coherent fashion. We devise a specific implementation of this general mechanism fostering a reflective optical nonlinearity and discuss how this can enable efficient single-photon routing with a multitude of unique practical applications.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:72837 |
| Date | 20 November 2020 |
| Creators | Murray, Callum Robert |
| Contributors | Rost, Jan-Michael, Strunz, Walter, Grossmann, Frank, Technische Universität Dresden |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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