41 research outputs found
Combined cerebellar and bilateral cervical posterior spinal artery stroke demonstrated on MRI
Combined cerebellar and spinal ischemic stroke is a rare, critical condition. We report a patient with combined cerebellar and bilateral posterolateral cervical spinal cord infarction due to bilateral stenosis of the vertebral arteries. MRI is the method of choice for imaging this condition; diffusion-weighted imaging of the spinal cord gives reliable results
Frequency tuning of a triply-resonant whispering-gallery mode resonator to MHz wide transitions for proposed quantum repeater schemes
Quantum repeaters rely on an interfacing of flying qubits with quantum
memories. The most common implementations include a narrowband single photon
matched in bandwidth and central frequency to an atomic system. Previously, we
demonstrated the compatibility of our versatile source of heralded single
photons, which is based on parametric down-conversion in a triply-resonant
whispering-gallery mode resonator, with alkaline transitions [Schunk et al.,
Optica 2, 773 (2015)]. In this paper, we analyze our source in terms of phase
matching, available wavelength-tuning mechanisms, and applications to
narrow-band atomic systems. We resonantly address the D1 transitions of cesium
and rubidium with this optical parametric oscillator pumped above its
oscillation threshold. Below threshold, the efficient coupling of single
photons to atomic transitions heralded by single telecom-band photons is
demonstrated. Finally, we present an accurate analytical description of our
observations. Providing the demonstrated flexibility in connecting various
atomic transitions with telecom wavelengths, we show a promising approach to
realize an essential building block for quantum repeaters.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure
Interfacing transitions of different alkali atoms and telecom bands using one narrowband photon pair source
Quantum information technology strongly relies on coupling of optical photons
with narrowband quantum systems, such as quantum dots, color centers, and
atomic systems. This coupling requires matching the optical wavelength and
bandwidth to the desired system, which presents a considerable problem for most
available sources of quantum light. Here we demonstrate coupling of alkali
dipole transitions with a tunable source of photon pairs. Our source is based
on spontaneous parametric down-conversion in a triply-resonant
whispering-gallery mode resonator. For this, we have developed novel wavelength
tuning mechanisms, which allow for a coarse tuning to either cesium or rubidium
wavelength with subsequent continuous fine-tuning to the desired transition. As
a demonstration of the functionality of the source, we performed a heralded
single photon measurement of the atomic decay. We present a major advance in
controlling the spontaneous down-conversion process, which makes our bright
source of single photons now compatible with a plethora of narrow-band resonant
systems.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Squeezed vacuum states from a whispering gallery mode resonator
Squeezed vacuum states enable optical measurements below the quantum limit
and hence are a valuable resource for applications in quantum metrology and
also quantum communication. However, most available sources require high pump
powers in the milliwatt range and large setups, which hinders real world
applications. Furthermore, degenerate operation of such systems presents a
challenge. Here, we use a compact crystalline whispering gallery mode resonator
made of lithium niobate as a degenerate parametric oscillator. We demonstrate
about 1.4 dB noise reduction below the shot noise level for only 300
of pump power in degenerate single mode operation. Furthermore,
we report a record pump threshold as low as 1.35 . Our results
show that the whispering gallery based approach presents a promising platform
for a compact and efficient source for nonclassical light.Comment: 2019 Optical Society of America. Users may use, reuse,
and build upon the article, or use the article for text or data mining, so
long as such uses are for non-commercial purposes and appropriate attribution
is maintained. All other rights are reserve
Nonlinear power dependence of the spectral properties of an optical parametric oscillator below threshold in the quantum regime
Photon pairs and heralded single photons, obtained from cavity-assisted
parametric down-conversion (PDC), play an important role in quantum
communications and technology. This motivated a thorough study of the spectral
and temporal properties of parametric light, both above the Optical Parametric
Oscillator (OPO) threshold, where the semiclassical approach is justified, and
deeply below it, where the linear cavity approximation is applicable. The
pursuit of a higher two-photon emission rate leads into an interesting
intermediate regime where the OPO still operates considerably below the
threshold but the nonlinear cavity phenomena cannot be neglected anymore. Here,
we investigate this intermediate regime and show that the spectral and temporal
properties of the photon pairs, as well as their emission rate, may
significantly differ from the widely accepted linear model. The observed
phenomena include frequency pulling and broadening in the temporal correlation
for the down-converted optical fields. These factors need to be taken into
account when devising practical applications of the high-rate cavity-assisted
SPDC sources
Efficient single sideband microwave to optical conversion using a LiNbO_3 WGM-resonator
We present a coherent microwave to telecom signal converter based on the electro-optical effect using a crystalline WGM-resonator coupled to a 3D microwave cavity, achieving high photon conversion efficiency of 0.1% with MHz bandwidth
Efficient microwave to optical photon conversion: an electro-optical realization
Linking classical microwave electrical circuits to the optical telecommunication band is at the core of modern communication. Future quantum information networks will require coherent microwave-to-optical conversion to link electronic quantum processors and memories via low-loss optical telecommunication networks. Efficient conversion can be achieved with electro-optical modulators operating at the single microwave photon level. In the standard electro-optic modulation scheme, this is impossible because both up- and down-converted sidebands are necessarily present. Here, we demonstrate true single-sideband up- or down-conversion in a triply resonant whispering gallery mode resonator by explicitly addressing modes with asymmetric free spectral range. Compared to previous experiments, we show a 3 orders of magnitude improvement of the electro-optical conversion efficiency, reaching 0.1% photon number conversion for a 10 GHz microwave tone at 0.42 mW of optical pump power. The presented scheme is fully compatible with existing superconducting 3D circuit quantum electrodynamics technology and can be used for nonclassical state conversion and communication. Our conversion bandwidth is larger than 1 MHz and is not fundamentally limited
Frequency and Nature of Incidental Extra-Enteric Lesions Found on Magnetic Resonance Enterography (MR-E) in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD)
The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of extra-enteric findings in a large cohort of patients undergoing magnetic resonance enterography (MR-E) and to classify the clinical significance of these findings.We retrospectively analyzed 1154 MR-E performed in 1006 patients referred to our radiological department between 1999-2005. The reasons for referral were suspected or proven inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) (n = 710), further diagnostic work-up for small bowel disease because of non-specific abdominal symptoms (SBD; n = 182) or suspected small bowel malignancies (SBM; n = 114). All extra-enteric findings were reviewed by a radiologist and a gastroenterologist and were classified as having high, moderate, or low significance for further diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.The average age of all patients was 40+/-16 (Mean+/-SD) years (y) (IBD 35+/-13 y; SBD 49+/-16 y; SBM 57+/-15 y). A total of 1113 extra-enteric findings were detected in 600 of 1006 patients (59.6%). Of these findings 180 (16.2%) were judged as having a high, 212 (19.0%) a moderate and 721 (64.8%) a low significance. On a per group basis in patients with IBD 12.0% of the findings were of major clinical significance compared to 13.7% and 33.3% in patients with SBD and SBM, respectively. The most common major findings were abscesses (69.9%) in the IBD group and extraintestinal tumors, metastases or masses in the SBD and SBM groups (41.9% and 74.2%, respectively).MR-E reveals a substantial number of extra-enteric findings, supporting the role of a cross-sectional imaging method for the evaluation of the small bowel