Rostock 2019 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 29: Quantum Effects
Q 29.5: Talk
Wednesday, March 13, 2019, 11:45–12:00, S Gr. HS Maschb.
Subradiant quantum state storage in a 1D atomic chain — Jemma A. Needham1,2, Igor Lesanovsky1,2, and •Beatriz Olmos1,2 — 1School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom — 2Centre for the Mathematics and Theoretical Physics of Quantum Non-equilibrium Systems, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
We investigate the potential of a 1D chain of atoms excited to low-lying states for the transport and storage of light. When the atoms are separated by a distance smaller or comparable to the wavelength of an atomic transition, the coupling of the atoms and the electromagnetic field leads to collective behaviour: excitations are exchanged between the atoms via virtual photons while the emission from the system happens at a much faster (superradiant) or much smaller (subradiant) rate than the one from an individual atom. We show here that a single excitation in a 1D chain can be created on one end of the chain such that it naturally gets stored in one of the subradiant states of the many-body system. By adiabatically tuning an external magnetic field we can manipulate the excitation's dynamics to an outstanding degree. We show that this allows one to store the light in a subradiant state for long times inside the chain's bulk and then release it. The experimental feasibility of this protocol is finally analyzed, and potential improvements are discussed.