Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays
A major application for atomic ensembles consists of a quantum memory for light, in which an optical state can be reversibly converted to a collective atomic excitation on demand. There exists a well-known fundamental bound on the storage error, when the ensemble is describable by a continuous mediu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2018-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aadb74 |
| _version_ | 1827873311766347776 |
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| author | M T Manzoni M Moreno-Cardoner A Asenjo-Garcia J V Porto A V Gorshkov D E Chang |
| author_facet | M T Manzoni M Moreno-Cardoner A Asenjo-Garcia J V Porto A V Gorshkov D E Chang |
| author_sort | M T Manzoni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A major application for atomic ensembles consists of a quantum memory for light, in which an optical state can be reversibly converted to a collective atomic excitation on demand. There exists a well-known fundamental bound on the storage error, when the ensemble is describable by a continuous medium governed by the Maxwell–Bloch equations. However, these equations are semi-phenomenological, as they treat emission of the atoms into other directions other than the mode of interest as being independent. On the other hand, in systems such as dense, ordered atomic arrays, atoms interact with each other strongly and spatial interference of the emitted light might be exploited to suppress emission into unwanted directions, thereby enabling improved error bounds. Here, we develop a general formalism that fully accounts for spatial interference, and which finds the maximum storage efficiency for a single photon with known spatial input mode into a collection of atoms with discrete, known positions. As an example, we apply this technique to study a finite two-dimensional square array of atoms. We show that such a system enables a storage error that scales with atom number N _a like $\sim {(\mathrm{log}{N}_{{\rm{a}}})}^{2}/{N}_{{\rm{a}}}^{2}$ , and that, remarkably, an array of just 4 × 4 atoms in principle allows for an error of less than 1%, which is comparable to a disordered ensemble with an optical depth of around 600. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:35:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4d386854e9754b44880f7f7589f77fe4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1367-2630 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:35:24Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | New Journal of Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-4d386854e9754b44880f7f7589f77fe42023-08-08T14:53:33ZengIOP PublishingNew Journal of Physics1367-26302018-01-0120808304810.1088/1367-2630/aadb74Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arraysM T Manzoni0M Moreno-Cardoner1A Asenjo-Garcia2J V Porto3A V Gorshkov4D E Chang5ICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology , E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), SpainICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology , E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), SpainICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology , E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain; Norman Bridge Laboratory of Physics MC12-33, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, United States of America; Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, United States of AmericaJoint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, United States of AmericaJoint Quantum Institute, NIST/University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, United States of America; Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science, NIST/University of Maryland , College Park, MD 20742, United States of AmericaICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology , E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain; ICREA—Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, E-08015 Barcelona, SpainA major application for atomic ensembles consists of a quantum memory for light, in which an optical state can be reversibly converted to a collective atomic excitation on demand. There exists a well-known fundamental bound on the storage error, when the ensemble is describable by a continuous medium governed by the Maxwell–Bloch equations. However, these equations are semi-phenomenological, as they treat emission of the atoms into other directions other than the mode of interest as being independent. On the other hand, in systems such as dense, ordered atomic arrays, atoms interact with each other strongly and spatial interference of the emitted light might be exploited to suppress emission into unwanted directions, thereby enabling improved error bounds. Here, we develop a general formalism that fully accounts for spatial interference, and which finds the maximum storage efficiency for a single photon with known spatial input mode into a collection of atoms with discrete, known positions. As an example, we apply this technique to study a finite two-dimensional square array of atoms. We show that such a system enables a storage error that scales with atom number N _a like $\sim {(\mathrm{log}{N}_{{\rm{a}}})}^{2}/{N}_{{\rm{a}}}^{2}$ , and that, remarkably, an array of just 4 × 4 atoms in principle allows for an error of less than 1%, which is comparable to a disordered ensemble with an optical depth of around 600.https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aadb74quantum memoryatomic ensemblessubradiancesuperradiance |
| spellingShingle | M T Manzoni M Moreno-Cardoner A Asenjo-Garcia J V Porto A V Gorshkov D E Chang Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays New Journal of Physics quantum memory atomic ensembles subradiance superradiance |
| title | Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays |
| title_full | Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays |
| title_fullStr | Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays |
| title_short | Optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays |
| title_sort | optimization of photon storage fidelity in ordered atomic arrays |
| topic | quantum memory atomic ensembles subradiance superradiance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aadb74 |
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