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Thermal-motion-induced non-reciprocal quantum optical system

Nature Photonics volume 12, pages 744–748 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Magnetic-free optical non-reciprocal components, such as isolators and circulators, are highly desirable for on-chip optical signal processing1,2 and quantum networks3,4. However, their realization presents a fundamental difficulty due to the Lorentz reciprocity in most optical devices5. In this study, we propose and experimentally realize optical non-reciprocity with atoms embedded in a ring cavity at room temperature. Random thermal motion of atoms, in the presence of a unidirectional control field, creates susceptibility–momentum locking, and subsequently a new type of chiral quantum optical system. Furthermore, we demonstrate strong non-reciprocity based on this chiral quantum system in the regime of collectively strong atom–cavity coupling. Our scheme provides a new routine towards the realization of chiral quantum optics and chip-compatible, non-magnetic optical non-reciprocity.

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Fig. 1: Thermal-motion-induced non-reciprocal chiral quantum optical system.
Fig. 2: Non-reciprocal transmission of the chiral quantum optical system inside a ring cavity.
Fig. 3: Experimental observation of non-reciprocal transmission with warm atoms.
Fig. 4: Experimental observation of reciprocal transmission with cold atoms.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2017YFA0303703), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 11474092, 11774089 and 11674094) and Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (grant nos. 17ZR1442700 and 18ZR1410500).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

    Shicheng Zhang, Yiqi Hu, Gongwei Lin, Yueping Niu & Shangqing Gong

  2. National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Keyu Xia

  3. Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Keyu Xia

  4. Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Jiangbin Gong

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Contributions

G.L., Y.N. and K.X. contributed to the original idea, and supervised the experiment. S.Z. and Y.H. conducted the experiment and partly contributed to refining the idea. They contributed equally to this work. S.G. supervised the whole project. All authors contributed to discussions of the results and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Gongwei Lin, Yueping Niu or Keyu Xia.

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Zhang, S., Hu, Y., Lin, G. et al. Thermal-motion-induced non-reciprocal quantum optical system. Nature Photon 12, 744–748 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-018-0269-2

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