Nonreciprocal Single-Photon Band Structure

Jiang-Shan Tang, Wei Nie, Lei Tang, Mingyuan Chen, Xin Su, Yanqing Lu, Franco Nori, and Keyu Xia

Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 203602 – Published 17 May 2022

Abstract

We study a single-photon band structure in a one-dimensional coupled-resonator optical waveguide that chirally couples to an array of two-level quantum emitters (QEs). The chiral interaction between the resonator mode and the QE can break the time-reversal symmetry without the magneto-optical effect and an external or synthetic magnetic field. As a result, nonreciprocal single-photon edge states, band gaps, and flat bands appear. By using such a chiral QE coupled-resonator optical waveguide system, including a finite number of unit cells and working in the nonreciprocal band gap, we achieve frequency-multiplexed single-photon circulators with high fidelity and low insertion loss. The chiral QE-light interaction can also protect one-way propagation of single photons against backscattering. Our work opens a new door for studying unconventional photonic band structures without electronic counterparts in condensed matter and exploring its applications in the quantum regime.

Received 12 January 2022
Accepted 19 April 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.203602

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Cavity quantum electrodynamics Light propagation, transmission & absorption Quantum description of light-matter interaction Topological effects in photonic systems

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Jiang-Shan Tang ^1,2, Wei Nie^3,4, Lei Tang ¹, Mingyuan Chen¹, Xin Su^1,5, Yanqing Lu^1,2, Franco Nori ^3,6, and Keyu Xia ^1,2,7,8,*

¹College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
²School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
³RIKEN Quantum Computing Center, RIKEN Cluster for Pioneering Research, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
⁴Center for Joint Quantum Studies and Department of Physics, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, China
⁵School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
⁶Physics Department, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1040, USA
⁷Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
⁸Key Laboratory of Intelligent Optical Sensing and Manipulation (Nanjing University), Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210023, China