Quantum and nonlinear effects in light transmitted through planar atomic arrays

Bettles, Robert J.; Lee, Mark D.; Gardiner, Simon A.; Ruostekoski, Janne

doi:10.1038/s42005-020-00404-3

Quantum and nonlinear effects in light transmitted through planar atomic arrays

Bettles, Robert J.; Lee, Mark D.; Gardiner, Simon A.; Ruostekoski, Janne

Authors

Robert J. Bettles

Mark D. Lee

Professor Simon Gardiner s.a.gardiner@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Janne Ruostekoski

Abstract

Understanding strong cooperative optical responses in dense and cold atomic ensembles is vital for fundamental science and emerging quantum technologies. Methodologies for characterizing light-induced quantum effects in such systems, however, are still lacking. Here we unambiguously identify significant quantum many-body effects, robust to position fluctuations and strong dipole–dipole interactions, in light scattered from planar atomic ensembles by comparing full quantum simulations with a semiclassical model neglecting quantum fluctuations. We find pronounced quantum effects at high atomic densities, light close to saturation intensity, and around subradiant resonances. Such conditions also maximize spin–spin correlations and entanglement between atoms, revealing the microscopic origin of light-induced quantum effects. In several regimes of interest, our approximate model reproduces light transmission remarkably well, permitting analysis of otherwise numerically inaccessible large ensembles, in which we observe many-body analogues of resonance power broadening, vacuum Rabi splitting, and significant suppression in cooperative reflection from atomic arrays.

Citation

Bettles, R. J., Lee, M. D., Gardiner, S. A., & Ruostekoski, J. (2020). Quantum and nonlinear effects in light transmitted through planar atomic arrays. Communications Physics, 3(1), Article 141. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-00404-3

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jul 15, 2020
Online Publication Date	Aug 14, 2020
Publication Date	2020
Deposit Date	Aug 26, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Aug 26, 2020
Journal	Communications Physics.
Electronic ISSN	2399-3650
Publisher	Nature Research
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	3
Issue	1
Article Number	141
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-020-00404-3

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