Nanophotonic Optical Isolator Controlled by the Internal State of Cold Atoms

The realization of nanophotonic optical isolators with high optical isolation even at ultralow light levels and low optical losses is an open problem. Here, we employ the link between the local polarization of strongly confined light and its direction of propagation to realize low-loss nonreciprocal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. X 2015-12, Vol.5 (4), p.041036, Article 041036
Main Authors: Sayrin, Clément, Junge, Christian, Mitsch, Rudolf, Albrecht, Bernhard, O’Shea, Danny, Schneeweiss, Philipp, Volz, Jürgen, Rauschenbeutel, Arno
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atoms & subatomic particles
Cold atoms
Cold spinning
Coupled modes
Emitters
Faraday effect
Integrated optics
Isolators
Laser cooling
Light
Light levels
Magnetic fields
Miniaturization
Nanofibers
Optical communication
Optical computers
Optical fibers
Optical waveguides
Photons
Propagation
Signal processing
Silicon dioxide
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Summary:The realization of nanophotonic optical isolators with high optical isolation even at ultralow light levels and low optical losses is an open problem. Here, we employ the link between the local polarization of strongly confined light and its direction of propagation to realize low-loss nonreciprocal transmission through a silica nanofiber at the single-photon level. The direction of the resulting optical isolator is controlled by the spin state of cold atoms. We perform our experiment in two qualitatively different regimes, i.e., with an ensemble of cold atoms where each atom is weakly coupled to the waveguide and with a single atom strongly coupled to the waveguide mode. In both cases, we observe simultaneously high isolation and high forward transmission. The isolator concept constitutes a nanoscale quantum optical analog of microwave ferrite resonance isolators, can be implemented with all kinds of optical waveguides and emitters, and might enable novel integrated optical devices for fiber-based classical and quantum networks.
ISSN:2160-3308
2160-3308
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevX.5.041036