Atomic and molecular interactions with photons articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    'Atkins snowballs', solid layers of helium around an ion core in bulk superfluid He, have been investigated for simple ions but many properties remain unknown. Here, the authors show via photofragmentation experiments that a phase transition occurs in C60-doped He droplets depending on the number of He atoms.

    • M. Kuhn
    • , M. Renzler
    •  & P. Scheier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying long-range interactions in the controlled environment of trapped ultracold gases can help our understanding of fundamental many-body physics. Here the authors excite a gas of Rydberg atoms with a ps laser pulse, demonstrating behaviour consistent with many-body correlations beyond mean-field.

    • Nobuyuki Takei
    • , Christian Sommer
    •  & Kenji Ohmori

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It would be desirable to have a reliable and scalable method to manipulate neutral-atoms for the creation of controllable quantum systems. Here the authors demonstrate real-time transport of single rubidium atoms in holographic microtraps controlled by liquid-crystal spatial light modulators.

    • Hyosub Kim
    • , Woojun Lee
    •  & Jaewook Ahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The spatial structure of vortex laser beams associates angular momentum to photons, which, in addition to their spin, can be used to tailor light-matter interactions. Here, the authors excite an atomic transition with a vortex laser beam, showing that the transfer of angular momentum modifies selection rules.

    • Christian T. Schmiegelow
    • , Jonas Schulz
    •  & Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional arrays of trapped ion qubits are attractive platforms for quantum information processing, but rapid reloading remains a challenge. Here the authors use a continuous flux of pre-cooled neutral atoms to achieve fast loading of single ions without affecting the coherence of adjacent qubits.

    • Colin D. Bruzewicz
    • , Robert McConnell
    •  & Jeremy M. Sage

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Engineering the interaction between optical fields and gas-phase matters is important for spectroscopy and more general laser science and technology. Here, the authors demonstrate a method for light-trapping of molecular hydrogen in hollow-core photonic-crystal fibres, relying on Raman transition.

    • M. Alharbi
    • , A. Husakou
    •  & F. Benabid

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum-network protocols based on photon-atom interfaces have stimulated a great demand for single-photon sources with narrow bandwidth. Here the authors report the generation of entangled photon pairs with controllable bandwidth and coherence time from a Doppler-broadened hot atomic vapour cell.

    • Chi Shu
    • , Peng Chen
    •  & Shengwang Du

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is essential to understand the effect of molecular vibration on charge transport for better design of molecular electronics. Here, the authors test two benchmark aromatic motifs and show how the coupling between π electrons and molecular vibration is affected by molecular edge topology.

    • Héctor Álvaro Galué
    • , Jos Oomens
    •  & Britta Redlich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Twisted light beams have found several applications in the infrared and visible regime, but reaching the extreme ultraviolet has been difficult due to lack of sources. Here the authors report generation of helically shaped extreme ultraviolet trains of attosecond pulses via high harmonic generation.

    • R. Géneaux
    • , A. Camper
    •  & T. Ruchon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage is a robust approach to realize high-fidelity state transfer, but requires long operation. Here, the authors propose a shortcut-to-adiabatic protocol to speed up such approach by modifying the Raman pulses, and demonstrate it in a cold atomic setup.

    • Yan-Xiong Du
    • , Zhen-Tao Liang
    •  & Shi-Liang Zhu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Comparing the frequency of two distant optical clocks will enable sensitive tests of fundamental physics. Here, the authors compare two strontium optical-lattice clocks 690 kilometres apart to a degree of accuracy that is limited only by the uncertainty of the individual clocks themselves.

    • C. Lisdat
    • , G. Grosche
    •  & P.-E. Pottie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum information processing requires a system in which a single photon controls a single atom and vice versa. Here, the authors demonstrate such reciprocal operation and achieve coherent manipulation of a quantum dot by a few photons sent on an optical cavity.

    • V. Giesz
    • , N. Somaschi
    •  & P. Senellart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photo-induced charge separation in organic semiconductors usually occurs at interfaces between electron donors and acceptors. Here, the authors show using photoluminescence measurements that charge separation is intrinsic and directional in organic crystalline nanowires made of stacked monomers.

    • J. A. Labastide
    • , H. B. Thompson
    •  & M. D. Barnes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two-dimensional, self-assembled heteromolecular networks often lack functionality. Here the authors study the photoresponse of self-assembled heteromolecular networks, while controlling their positions and interfaces at an atomic level, suggesting bottom-up assembly of optoelectronics devices.

    • Sarah Wieghold
    • , Juan Li
    •  & Carlos-Andres Palma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experimental data from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy can be utilized on molecular films to retrieve real-space images of molecular orbitals in two dimensions. Here, by scanning initial states as a function of photon energy, the authors can reconstruct three-dimensional orbital images.

    • S. Weiß
    • , D. Lüftner
    •  & P. Puschnig

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Remote generation of population-inverted gain media in air is a step towards the realization of bright and coherent atmospheric lasers. Here, the authors verify population inversion in N2+and demonstrate the generation of air lasing by acting on it as the gain medium.

    • Huailiang Xu
    • , Erik Lötstedt
    •  & Kaoru Yamanouchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical communications and quantum operations require active coupling control in closely packed integrated photonic circuits. Here, Mrejen et al.exploit adiabatic elimination to demonstrate active coupling control between two closely packed waveguides by tuning the mode index of an in-between decoupled waveguide.

    • Michael Mrejen
    • , Haim Suchowski
    •  & Xiang Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extending matter-wave interferometry to nanoscale objects requires beam splitters that can cope with their internal complexity. Here, the authors demonstrate that the absorption of individual photons allows the center-of-mass coherence of large molecules to be maintained.

    • J. P. Cotter
    • , S. Eibenberger
    •  & K. Hornberger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electrons in atoms exhibit many-body collective behaviours that can be studied by highbrightness X-rays from FELs. Here, the authors examine two-photon above threshold ionization of xenon and find that nonlinearities in the response uncover that more than one state underpins the 4dgiant resonance.

    • T. Mazza
    • , A. Karamatskou
    •  & R. Santra

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To overcome losses and thermalization, a quantum system requires strong interactions. Following recent experiments, Mackillo Kira shows that a BEC swept fast enough from weak to strong interactions exhibits coherent quantum-depletion dynamics dominated by particle clusters, resembling semiconductor excitations.

    • M. Kira

  • Article |

    Molecular core levels are localized around a single atomic site, but for indistinguishable atoms, photoionised core-holes can either be seen as localized or delocalized. Using a prototypical symmetric system, CS2, Guillemin et al. show that these states can be disentangled by fragmentation dynamics.

    • R. Guillemin
    • , P. Decleva
    •  & M. Simon

  • Article |

    Atomic spectroscopy is typically based on multipole atom-field interactions that obey established selection rules. Using Rydberg atoms as an example, Moore et al. show that the quadratic (ponderomotive) interaction can provide both more flexible selection rules and greater spatial addressability.

    • Kaitlin R. Moore
    • , Sarah E. Anderson
    •  & Georg Raithel

  • Article |

    Understanding the dynamics of molecules exposed to intense X-ray beams is crucial to ongoing efforts in biomolecular imaging with free-electron lasers. Here, the authors study C60molecules interacting with femtosecond X-ray free-electron laser pulses and present a model based on classical and quantum physics.

    • B. F. Murphy
    • , T. Osipov
    •  & N. Berrah

  • Article |

    The use of photonic crystals to trap atoms on a chip offers unique possibilities for atom–light interactions. Advancing towards this goal, the authors realize photonic crystal waveguides where the electronic transition frequencies of localized caesium atoms are aligned with the band edges of the waveguides.

    • A. Goban
    • , C.-L. Hung
    •  & H.J. Kimble

  • Article |

    Rydberg atoms can have sizes similar to the wavelength of near-infrared light, yet the electric dipole approximation – in which spatial variations of the light-field phase are ignored – remains valid. Anderson and Raithel explain this by measuring that photoionization of such atoms occurs near the nucleus.

    • Sarah E. Anderson
    •  & Georg Raithel

  • Article |

    The unusual properties of entangled photons endow them with useful properties for imaging and metrology tasks. This work simulates the use of entangled photons for controlling two-exciton states in Blastochloris viridis, showing their advantages for studying excitation pathways in bacterial reaction centres.

    • Frank Schlawin
    • , Konstantin E. Dorfman
    •  & Shaul Mukamel

  • Article |

    Single-photon emitters are important for developing quantum technologies, but their integration with existing devices requires them to be driven by electric fields. Here, an organic light-emitting diode is presented that emits single photons from guest molecules in an applied electric field at room temperature.

    • Maximilian Nothaft
    • , Steffen Höhla
    •  & Jörg Wrachtrup

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single atoms can be detected using optical resonators that extend the lifetime of the photon. Here, the authors demonstrate fast, high-fidelity detection of very low atom densities using a microfabricated optical cavity to couple the detection light with the atoms.

    • J. Goldwin
    • , M. Trupke
    •  & E.A. Hinds

  • Article |

    A quantum simulator can follow the evolution of a prescribed model, whose behaviour may be difficult to determine. Here, the emergence of magnetism is simulated by implementing a quantum Ising model, providing a benchmark for simulations in larger systems.

    • R. Islam
    • , E.E. Edwards
    •  & C. Monroe

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