Heralded Preparation and Readout of Entangled Phonons in a Photonic Crystal Cavity

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.Comment: 5 Pages, 3 Figures + Supplemental Material 3 Pages, 3 Figure

Input-output theory of the unconventional photon blockade

We study the unconventional photon blockade, recently proposed for a coupled-cavity system, in presence of input and output quantum fields. Mixing of the input or output channels still allows strong photon antibunching of the output field, but for optimal values of the system parameters that differ substantially from those that maximize antibunching of the intracavity field. This result shows that the specific input-output geometry in a photonic system determines the optimal design in view of single-photon device operation. We provide a compact analytical formula that allows finding the optimal parameters for each specific system geometry.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Remote Macroscopic Entanglement on a Photonic Crystal Architecture

The outstanding progress in nanostructure fabrication and cooling technologies allows what was unthinkable a few decades ago: bringing single-mode mechanical vibrations to the quantum regime. The coupling between photon and phonon excitations is a natural source of nonclassical states of light and mechanical vibrations, and its study within the field of cavity optomechanics is developing lightning-fast. Photonic crystal cavities are highly integrable architectures that have demonstrated the strongest optomechanical coupling to date, and should therefore play a central role for such hybrid quantum state engineering. In this context, we propose a realistic heralding protocol for the on-chip preparation of remotely entangled mechanical states, relying on the state-of-the-art optomechanical parameters of a silicon-based nanobeam structure. Pulsed sideband excitation of a Stokes process, combined with single photon detection, allows writing a delocalised mechanical Bell state in the system, signatures of which can then be read out in the optical field. A measure of entanglement in this protocol is provided by the visibility of a characteristic quantum interference pattern in the emitted light.Comment: 8 pages, 5 Figure

Quantum Entanglement in Nanocavity Arrays

We show theoretically how quantum interference between linearly coupled modes with weak local nonlinearity allows the generation of continuous variable entanglement. By solving the quantum master equation for the density matrix, we show how the entanglement survives realistic levels of pure dephasing. The generation mechanism forms a new paradigm for entanglement generation in arrays of coupled quantum modes.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Single photons from coupled quantum modes

Single photon emitters often rely on a strong nonlinearity to make the behaviour of a quantum mode susceptible to a change in the number of quanta between one and two. In most systems the strength of nonlinearity is weak, such that changes at the single quantum level have little effect. Here, we consider coupled quantum modes and and that they can be strongly sensitive at the single quantum level, even if nonlinear interactions are modest. As examples, we consider solid-state implementations based on the tunneling of polaritons between quantum boxes or their parametric modes in a microcavity. We find that these systems can act as promising single photon emitters.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Optimal antibunching in passive photonic devices based on coupled nonlinear resonators

We propose the use of weakly nonlinear passive materials for prospective applications in integrated quantum photonics. It is shown that strong enhancement of native optical nonlinearities by electromagnetic field confinement in photonic crystal resonators can lead to single-photon generation only exploiting the quantum interference of two coupled modes and the effect of photon blockade under resonant coherent driving. For realistic system parameters in state of the art microcavities, the efficiency of such single-photon source is theoretically characterized by means of the second-order correlation function at zero time delay as the main figure of merit, where major sources of loss and decoherence are taken into account within a standard master equation treatment. These results could stimulate the realization of integrated quantum photonic devices based on non-resonant material media, fully integrable with current semiconductor technology and matching the relevant telecom band operational wavelengths, as an alternative to single-photon nonlinear devices based on cavity-QED with artificial atoms or single atomic-like emitters.Comment: to appear in New J. Physic

Optically erasing disorder in semiconductor microcavities with dynamic nuclear polarization

The mean squared value of the photonic disorder is found to be reduced by a factor of 100 in a typical GaAs based microcavity, when exposed to a circularly polarized continuous wave optical pump without any special spatial patterning. Resonant excitation of the cavity mode excites a spatially non-uniform distribution of spin-polarized electrons, which depends on the photonic disorder profile. Electrons transfer spin to nuclei via the hyperfine contact interaction, inducing a long-living Overhauser magnetic field able to modify the potential of exciton-polaritons.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure