Light-matter quantum interface with continuous pump and probe

authored by
Alexander Roth, Klemens Hammerer, Kirill S. Tikhonov
Abstract

Spin-polarized atomic ensembles probed by light based on the Faraday interaction are a versatile platform for numerous applications in quantum metrology and quantum information processing. Here we consider an ensemble of Alkali atoms that are continuously optically pumped and probed. Due to the collective scattering of photons at large optical depth, the steady state of atoms does not correspond to an uncorrelated tensor-product state, as is usually assumed. We introduce a self-consistent method to approximate the steady state including the pair correlations, taking into account the multilevel structure of atoms. We find and characterize regimes of Raman lasing, akin to the model of a superradiant laser. We determine the spectrum of the collectively scattered photons, which also characterizes the coherence time of the collective spin excitations on top of the stationary correlated mean-field state, as relevant for applications in metrology and quantum information.

Organisation(s)
Institute of Theoretical Physics
CRC 1227 Designed Quantum States of Matter (DQ-mat)
External Organisation(s)
Saint Petersburg State University
Type
Article
Journal
Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
Volume
56
ISSN
0953-4075
Publication date
15.02.2023
Publication status
Published
Peer reviewed
Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Condensed Matter Physics
Electronic version(s)
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6455/acb6db (Access: Open)