Nuclear spins of noble gases feature extremely long coherence times but are inaccessible to optical photons. Here we realize a coherent interface between light and noble-gas spins that is mediated by alkali atoms. We demonstrate the optical excitation of the noble-gas spins and observe the coherent back-action on the light in the form of high-contrast two-photon spectra. We report on a record two-photon linewidth of 5$pm$0.7 mHz (millihertz) above room-temperature, corresponding to a one-minute coherence time. This experiment provides a demonstration of coherent bi-directional coupling between light and noble-gas spins, rendering their long-lived spin coherence accessible for manipulations in the optical domain.
Two-color second-order correlations of the light scattered near-resonantly by a quantum dot were measured by means of spectrally-filtered coincidence detection. The effects of filter frequency and bandwidth were studied under monochromatic laser excitation, and a complete two-photon spectrum was reconstructed. In contrast to the ordinary one-photon spectrum, the two-photon spectrum is asymmetric with laser detuning and exhibits a rich structure associated with both real and virtual two-photon transitions down the dressed states ladder. Photon pairs generated via virtual transitions are found to violate the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality by a factor of 60. Our experiments are well described by the theoretical expressions obtained by del Valle et al. via time-and normally-ordered correlation functions.
Nuclear spins interact weakly with their environment. In particular, they are generally insensitive to mechanical vibrations. Here, we successfully demonstrate the coherent coupling of mechanics to a single nuclear spin. This coupling is mediated by a silicon vacancy (SiV) centre in diamond, taking advantage of its large strain susceptibility and hyperfine interaction with nuclear spins. Importantly, we demonstrate that the nuclear spin retains its excellent coherence properties even in the presence of this coupling. This provides a way to leverage nuclear spins as quantum memories for mechanical systems in the quantum regime.
The precise determination of the position of point-like emitters and scatterers using far-field optical imaging techniques is of utmost importance for a wide range of applications in medicine, biology, astronomy, and physics. Although the optical wavelength sets a fundamental limit to the image resolution of unknown objects, the position of an individual emitter can in principle be estimated from the image with arbitrary precision. This is used, e.g., in stars position determination and in optical super-resolution microscopy. Furthermore, precise position determination is an experimental prerequisite for the manipulation and measurement of individual quantum systems, such as atoms, ions, and solid state-based quantum emitters. Here we demonstrate that spin-orbit coupling of light in the emission of elliptically polarized emitters can lead to systematic, wavelength-scale errors in the estimate of the emitters position. Imaging a single trapped atom as well as a single sub-wavelength-diameter gold nanoparticle, we demonstrate a shift between the emitters measured and actual positions which is comparable to the optical wavelength. Remarkably, for certain settings, the expected shift can become arbitrarily large. Beyond their relevance for optical imaging techniques, our findings apply to the localization of objects using any type of wave that carries orbital angular momentum relative to the emitters position with a component orthogonal to the direction of observation.
Efficient coupling of light to single atomic systems has gained considerable attention over the past decades. This development is driven by the continuous growth of quantum technologies. The efficient coupling of light and matter is an enabling technology for quantum information processing and quantum communication. And indeed, in recent years much progress has been made in this direction. But applications aside, the interaction of photons and atoms is a fundamental physics problem. There are various possibilities for making this interaction more efficient, among them the apparently natural attempt of mode-matching the light field to the free-space emission pattern of the atomic system of interest. Here we will describe the necessary steps of implementing this mode-matching with the ultimate aim of reaching unit coupling efficiency. We describe the use of deep parabolic mirrors as the central optical element of a free-space coupling scheme, covering the preparation of suitable modes of the field incident onto these mirrors as well as the location of an atom at the mirrors focus. Furthermore, we establish a robust method for determining the efficiency of the photon-atom coupling.
Access to the electron spin is at the heart of many protocols for integrated and distributed quantum-information processing [1-4]. For instance, interfacing the spin-state of an electron and a photon can be utilized to perform quantum gates between photons [2,5] or to entangle remote spin states [6-9]. Ultimately, a quantum network of entangled spins constitutes a new paradigm in quantum optics [1]. Towards this goal, an integrated spin-photon interface would be a major leap forward. Here we demonstrate an efficient and optically programmable interface between the spin of an electron in a quantum dot and photons in a nanophotonic waveguide. The spin can be deterministically prepared with a fidelity of 96%. Subsequently the system is used to implement a single-spin photonic switch, where the spin state of the electron directs the flow of photons through the waveguide. The spin-photon interface may enable on-chip photon-photon gates [2], single-photon transistors [10], and efficient photonic cluster state generation [11].