Quantum Squeezing Induced Optical Nonreciprocity

Nonreciprocal unconventional magnon blockade induced by Barnett effect and parametric amplification

We propose a scheme to achieve nonreciprocal unconventional magnon blockade (UMB) via the Barnett effect in a spinning ferrimagnetic yttrium-iron-garnet sphere coupled to a microwave cavity that interacts with a parametric amplifier. We show that, with a strong cavity-magnon coupling regime, giant nonreciprocal UMB can emerge by appropriately choosing two sets of parameters in this system, i.e., strong magnon antibunching occurs only from one direction of the magnetic field but not from the other side. This nonreciprocity originates from the fact that the Barnett shift induced by the Barnett effect can be adjusted from positive to negative values by changing the magnetic field direction, resulting in different frequencies of the magnon mode. Moreover, we demonstrate that parametric amplification is an indispensable factor for constructing the pathways of quantum destructive interference to achieve strong UMB. Furthermore, we give analytical parameter conditions to realize strong UMB, which is proven to be in great agreement with numerical results. Interestingly, the nonreciprocity against magnon thermal occupation is remarkably enhanced by increasing the amplitude of the driving field. Notably, the critical temperature for observing nonreciprocal UMB is as high as 133 mK, and the sphere needs to spin at MHz values to achieve the UMB effect. Our work provides an avenue to realize nonreciprocal single-magnon devices and has potential applications in quantum information processing and quantum communication.

Nonreciprocal single-photon band structure in a coupled-spinning-resonator chain

We analyze the single-photon band structure and the transport of a single photon in a one-dimensional coupled-spinning-resonator chain. The time-reversal symmetry of the resonators chain is broken by the spinning of the resonators, instead of external or synthetic magnetic field. Two nonreciprocal single-photon band gaps can be obtained in the coupled-spinning-resonator chain, whose width depends on the angular velocity of the spinning resonator. Based on the nonreciprocal band gaps, we can implement a single photon circulator at multiple frequency windows, and the direction of photon cycling is opposite for different band gaps. In addition, reciprocal single-photon band structures can also be realized in the coupled-spinning-resonator chain when all resonators rotate in the same direction with equal angular velocity. We believe our work opens a new route to achieve, manipulate, and switch nonreciprocal or reciprocal single-photon band structures, and provides new opportunities to realize novel single-photon devices.

Integrated all-optical nonreciprocity based on a moving index grating

Optical nonreciprocal devices are critical components in integrated photonic systems and scalable quantum technologies. We propose an all-optical approach to achieve integrated optical nonreciprocity utilizing a moving index grating. The grating is generated in a nonlinear optical waveguide through the Kerr effect by driving the waveguide with two counter-propagating pump fields of slightly different frequencies. Based on this moving index grating, our system exhibits exceptional versatility by achieving both nonreciprocal transmission and reflection of signal fields. We obtain an all-optical isolator that achieves near-unity isolation contrast and negligible insertion loss while effectively addressing the dynamic reciprocity challenge. Our protocol establishes a novel approach for achieving integrated all-optical nonreciprocal devices, paving the way for advanced integrated photonic circuits.

Nonreciprocal magnon laser in a spinning cavity optomagnonic system

We introduce a novel, to the best of our knowledge, method to achieve a highly efficient nonreciprocal magnon laser within a spinning cavity optomagnonic system, which integrates a magnon mode and two optical modes. The rotation of the YIG sphere triggers the Barnett effect in the magnon mode and the Sagnac effect in the optical modes. The directional input of a pump light leads to opposite Sagnac-Fizeau frequency shifts in these modes. By adjusting the angular velocity, we can simultaneously control both the Barnett and Sagnac effects. Significantly, increasing the spin angular velocity enhances the system's nonreciprocity and magnon gain, yielding an isolation rate of 38.7 dB and a low-threshold magnon laser. This method presents a promising avenue for developing a nonreciprocal magnon laser, with implications for spintronics and the advancement of nonreciprocal optical devices.

Exponentially Improved Dispersive Qubit Readout with Squeezed Light

It has been a long-standing goal to improve dispersive qubit readout with squeezed light. However, injected external squeezing (IES) cannot enable a practically interesting increase in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and simultaneously, the increase of the SNR due to the use of intracavity squeezing (ICS) is even negligible. Here, we counterintuitively demonstrate that using IES and ICS together can lead to an exponential improvement of the SNR for any measurement time, corresponding to a measurement error reduced typically by many orders of magnitude. More remarkably, we find that in a short-time measurement, the SNR is even improved exponentially with twice the squeezing parameter. As a result, we predict a fast and high-fidelity readout. This work offers a promising path toward exploring squeezed light for dispersive qubit readout, with immediate applications in quantum error correction and fault-tolerant quantum computation.

Single-cavity loss-enabled nanometrology

Optical monitoring of the position and alignment of objects with a precision of only a few nanometres is key in applications such as smart manufacturing and force sensing. Traditional optical nanometrology requires precise nanostructure fabrication, multibeam interference or complex postprocessing algorithms, sometimes hampering wider adoption of this technology. Here we show a simplified, yet robust, approach to achieve nanometric metrology down to 2 nm resolution that eliminates the need for any reference signal for interferometric measurements. We insert an erbium-doped quartz crystal absorber into a single Fabry-Pérot cavity with a length of 3 cm and then induce exceptional points by matching the optical loss with the intercavity coupling. We experimentally achieve a displacement response enhancement of 86 times compared with lossless methods, and theoretically argue that an enhancement of over 450 times, corresponding to subnanometre resolution, may be achievable. We also show a fivefold enhancement in the signal-to-noise ratio, thus demonstrating that non-Hermitian sensors can lead to improved performances over the Hermitian counterpart.

Second harmonic generation and broad-band photoluminescence in mesoporous Si/SiO2 nanoparticles

Efficient second harmonic generation and broad-band photoluminescence from deeply subwavelength and nontoxic nanoparticles is essential for nanophotonic applications. Here, we explore nonlinear optical response from mesoporous Si/SiO2, SiO2, and Si nanoparticles, considering various fabrication and treatment procedures. We show that thermal annealing (including femtosecond laser treatment) of mesoporous Si/SiO2 nanoparticles provides the transformation of Si phase from amorphous to crystalline, enhancing the second harmonic and nonlinear photoluminescent response. Notably, the SiO2 mesoporous frame of the considered Si/SiO2 nanoparticles plays a dual positive role for the nonlinear process: it stabilizes the Si material, and SiO2:OH- material has a second-order nonlinearity itself and impacts to the observed second harmonic signal.

Triple Plexcitonic Nonreciprocity of Magnetochiral Plexcitons

Nonreciprocal quantum devices, allowing different transmission efficiencies of light-matter polaritons along opposite directions, are key technologies for modern photonics, yet their miniaturization and fine manipulation remain an open challenge. Here, we report on magnetochiral plexcitons dressed with geometric-time double asymmetry in compact nonreciprocal hybrid metamaterials, leading to triple plexcitonic nonreciprocity with flexible controllability. A general magnetically dressed plexcitonic Born-Kuhn model is developed to reveal the hybrid optical nature and dynamic energy evolution of magnetochiral plexcitons, demonstrating a plexcitonic nonreciprocal mechanism originating from the strong coupling among photon, electron, and spin degrees of freedom. Moreover, we introduce the temperature-controlled knob/switch for magnetochiral plexcitons, achieving precise magnetochiral control and nonreciprocal transmission in a given system. We expect this mechanism and approach to open up a new route for the integration and fine control of on-chip nonreciprocal quantum devices.

Enhancement and manipulation of nonreciprocity via dissipative coupling

Classical and quantum nonreciprocity have important applications in information processing due to their special one-way controllability for physical systems. In this paper we investigate the nonreciprocal transmission and quantum correlation by introducing the dissipative coupling into a linear coupling system consisting of two microdisk resonators. Our research results demonstrate that even in the case of a stationary resonator, dissipative coupling can effectively induce nonreciprocity within the system. Moreover, the degree of nonreciprocity increases with the dissipative coupling strength. Importantly, the phase shift between the dissipative coupling and coherent coupling serves as a critical factor for controlling both nonreciprocal transmision and one-way quantum steering. Consequently, the introduction of dissipative coupling not only enhances the nonreciprocal transmission and nonreciprocal quantum correlation but also enables on-demand manipulation of nonreciprocity. This highlights dissipation as an effective means for manipulating classical and quantum nonreciprocity, thus playing a favorable role in chiral quantum networks.

One-way valley-locked waveguide with a large channel achieved by all-dielectric photonic crystals

One-way transmission of light constitutes the cornerstone of modern photonic circuits. In the realm of photonic devices, it has been widely utilized in isolators, circulators, etc. Recent topology in artificial materials, an unprecedented degree of freedom, has been proposed to solve the effect of impurities on one-way transmission. However, in view of the bulk-edge correspondence, the spatial width of the transmission channel with uniform field distribution is quite narrow and needs further exploration. In this paper, we proposed a one-way valley-locked waveguide with a large channel in an all-dielectric reciprocal photonic crystal. Quite different from the topological edge states, our waveguide is topologically trivial; the unidirectional property comes from the bulk modes with valley-lock in the vicinity of Dirac points, which can naturally fully utilize the whole dimension of the structure. Additionally, such one-way bulk modes keep single mode regardless of the channel width increasing, along with uniform electrical field distribution across the entire channel, which opens a new avenue for large channel optical devices.

Nonreciprocal Superradiant Phase Transitions and Multicriticality in a Cavity QED System

We demonstrate the emergence of nonreciprocal superradiant phase transitions and novel multicriticality in a cavity quantum electrodynamics system, where a two-level atom interacts with two counterpropagating modes of a whispering-gallery-mode microcavity. The cavity rotates at a certain angular velocity and is directionally squeezed by a unidirectional parametric pumping χ^{(2)} nonlinearity. The combination of cavity rotation and directional squeezing leads to nonreciprocal first- and second-order superradiant phase transitions. These transitions do not require ultrastrong atom-field couplings and can be easily controlled by the external pump field. Through a full quantum description of the system Hamiltonian, we identify two types of multicritical points in the phase diagram, both of which exhibit controllable nonreciprocity. These results open a new door for all-optical manipulation of superradiant transitions and multicritical behaviors in light-matter systems, with potential applications in engineering various integrated nonreciprocal quantum devices.

Passive magnetic-free broadband optical isolator based on unidirectional self-induced transparency

Achieving a broadband nonreciprocal device without gain and any external bias is very challenging and highly desirable for modern photonic technologies and quantum networks. Here we theoretically propose a passive and magnetic-free all-optical isolator for a femtosecond laser pulse by exploiting a new mechanism of unidirectional self-induced transparency, obtained with a nonlinear medium followed by a normal absorbing medium at one side. The transmission contrast between the forward and backward directions can reach 14.3 dB for a 2π - 5 fs laser pulse. The 20 dB bandwidth is about 56 nm, already comparable with a magneto-optical isolator. This work provides a new mechanism which may benefit non-magnetic isolation of ultrashort laser pulses.

Nonreciprocal magnon blockade via the Barnett effect

We propose a scheme to achieve nonreciprocal magnon blockade via the Barnett effect in a magnon-based hybrid system. Due to the rotating yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere, the Barnett shift induced by the Barnett effect can be tuned from positive to negative via controlling magnetic field direction, leading to nonreciprocity. We show that a nonreciprocal unconventional magnon blockade (UMB) can emerge only from one magnetic field direction but not from the other side. Particularly, by further tuning system parameters, we simultaneously observe a nonreciprocal conventional magnon blockade (CMB) and a nonreciprocal UMB. This result achieves a switch between efficiency (UMB) and purity (CMB) of a single-magnon blockade. Interestingly, stronger UMB can be reached under stronger qubit-magnon coupling, even the strong coupling regime. Moreover, the nonreciprocity of the magnon blockade is sensitive to temperature. This work opens up a way for achieving quantum nonreciprocal magnetic devices and chiral magnon communications.

Controllable nonreciprocal phonon laser in a hybrid photonic molecule based on directional quantum squeezing

Here, a scheme for a controllable nonreciprocal phonon laser is proposed in a hybrid photonic molecule system consisting of a whispering-gallery mode (WGM) optomechanical resonator and a χ(2)-nonlinear WGM resonator, by directionally quantum squeezing one of two coupled resonator modes. The directional quantum squeezing results in a chiral photon interaction between the resonators and a frequency shift of the squeezed resonator mode with respect to the unsqueezed bare mode. We show that the directional quantum squeezing can modify the effective optomechanical coupling in the optomechanical resonator, and analyze the impacts of driving direction and squeezing extent on the phonon laser action in detail. Our analytical and numerical results indicate that the controllable nonreciprocal phonon laser action can be effectively realized in this system. The proposed scheme uses an all-optical and chip-compatible approach without spinning resonators, which may be more beneficial for integrating and packaging of the system on a chip. Our proposal may provide a new route to realize integratable phonon devices for on-chip nonreciprocal phonon manipulations, which may be used in chiral quantum acoustics, topological phononics, and acoustical information processing.

Quantum squeezing-induced quantum entanglement and EPR steering in a coupled optomechanical system

We propose a theoretical project in which quantum squeezing induces quantum entanglement and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering in a coupled whispering-gallery-mode optomechanical system. Through pumping the χ(2)-nonlinear resonator with the phase matching condition, the generated squeezed resonator mode and the mechanical mode of the optomechanical resonator can generate strong quantum entanglement and EPR steering, where the squeezing of the nonlinear resonator plays the vital role. The transitions from zero entanglement to strong entanglement and one-way steering to two-way steering can be realized by adjusting the system parameters appropriately. The photon-photon entanglement and steering between the two resonators can also be obtained by deducing the amplitude of the driving laser. Our project does not need an extraordinarily squeezed field, and it is convenient to manipulate and provides a novel and flexible avenue for diverse applications in quantum technology dependent on both optomechanical and photon-photon entanglement and steering.

Magnetic-free polarization rotation in an atomic vapor cell

Magnetic-free nonreciprocal optical devices have attracted great attention in recent years. Here, we investigated the magnetic-free polarization rotation of light in an atom vapor cell. Two mechanisms of magnetic-free nonreciprocity have been realized in ensembles of hot atoms, including electromagnetically induced transparency and optically-induced magnetization. For a linearly polarized input probe light, a rotation angle up to 86.4° has been realized with external control and pump laser powers of 10 mW and is mainly attributed to the optically-induced magnetization effect. Our demonstration offers a new approach to realize nonreciprocal devices, which can be applied to solid-state atom ensembles and may be useful in photonic integrated circuits.

Parametrically amplified nonreciprocal magnon laser in a hybrid cavity optomagnonical system

We propose a scheme to achieve a tunable nonreciprocal magnon laser with parametric amplification in a hybrid cavity optomagnonical system, which consists a yttrium iron garnet (YIG) sphere and a spinning resonator. We demonstrate the control of magnon laser can be enhanced via parametric amplification, which make easier and more convenient to control the magnon laser. Moreover, we analyze and evaluate the effects of pump light input direction and amplification amplitude on the magnon gain and laser threshold power. The results indicate that we can obtian a higher magnon gain and a broader range of threshold power of the magnon laser. In our scheme both the nonreciprocity and magnon gain of the magnon laser can be increased significantly. Our proposal provides a way to obtain a novel nonreciprocal magnon laser and offers new possibilities for both nonreciprocal optics and spin-electronics applications.

Spatial susceptibility modulation and controlled unidirectional reflection amplification via four-wave mixing

Control of unidirectional light propagation is of paramount importantance to optical signal processing and optical communication. Especially, the amplified optical signal can isolate noise well that may provide more applications. In this work, we propose a dynamically modulated regime to realize unidirectional reflection amplification in a short and dense uniform atomic medium, and all atoms are driven into four-level double-Λ type by two coupling fields with linearly varied intensities along x direction and two weak probe fields. Based on four-wave mixing resonance and the broken spatial symmetry, the complete nonreciprocal reflection (unidirectional reflection) can be amplified with reflectivity more than 2.0, even to 6.0. In addition, the width, height, and position of the unidirectional reflection bands can be tunable. Thus, our regime is feasible and may inspire further applications in all-optical networks that require controllable unidirectional light amplification.

χ(2) nonlinear photonics in integrated microresonators

Second-order (χ⁽²⁾) optical nonlinearity is one of the most common mechanisms for modulating and generating coherent light in photonic devices. Due to strong photon confinement and long photon lifetime, integrated microresonators have emerged as an ideal platform for investigation of nonlinear optical effects. However, existing silicon-based materials lack a χ⁽²⁾ response due to their centrosymmetric structures. A variety of novel material platforms possessing χ⁽²⁾ nonlinearity have been developed over the past two decades. This review comprehensively summarizes the progress of second-order nonlinear optical effects in integrated microresonators. First, the basic principles of χ⁽²⁾ nonlinear effects are introduced. Afterward, we highlight the commonly used χ⁽²⁾ nonlinear optical materials, including their material properties and respective functional devices. We also discuss the prospects and challenges of utilizing χ⁽²⁾ nonlinearity in the field of integrated microcavity photonics.

Asymmetric wavefront shaping with nonreciprocal 3D nonlinear detour phase hologram

Asymmetric control of light with nonlinear material is of great significance in the design of novel micro-photonic components, such as asymmetric imaging devices and nonreciprocal directional optical filters. However, the use of nonlinear photonic crystals for asymmetric optical transmission, to the best of our knowledge, is still an untouched area of research. Herein we propose the 3D nonlinear detour phase holography for realizing asymmetric SH wavefront shaping by taking advantage of the dependence of the SH phase on the propagation direction of the excitation beam. With the proposed method, the designed nonreciprocal 3D nonlinear detour phase hologram yields SH phases with opposite signs for the forward and backward transmission situations. Moreover, the quasi-phase-matching scheme and orbital angular momentum conservation in the asymmetric SH wavefront shaping process are also discussed. This study conceptually extends the 2D nonlinear detour phase holography into 3D space to build the nonreciprocal 3D nonlinear detour phase hologram for achieving SH twin-image elimination and asymmetric SH wavefront shaping, offering new possibilities for the design of nonreciprocal optical devices.

Squeezing-induced nonreciprocal photon blockade in an optomechanical microresonator

We propose a scheme to generate nonreciprocal photon blockade in a stationary whispering gallery microresonator system based on two physical mechanisms. One of the two mechanisms is inspired by recent work [Phys. Rev. Lett.128, 083604 (2022)10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.083604], where the quantum squeezing caused by parametric interaction not only shifts the optical frequency of propagating mode but also enhances its optomechanical coupling, resulting in a nonreciprocal conventional photon blockade phenomenon. On the other hand, we also give another mechanism to generate stronger nonreciprocity of photon correlation according to the destructive quantum interference. Comparing these two strategies, the required nonlinear strength of parametric interaction in the second one is smaller, and the broadband squeezed vacuum field used to eliminate thermalization noise is no longer needed. All analyses and optimal parameter relations are further verified by numerically simulating the quantum master equation. Our proposed scheme opens a new avenue for achieving the nonreciprocal single photon source without stringent requirements, which may have critical applications in quantum communication, quantum information processing, and topological photonics.

Photon blockade in the Jaynes-Cummings model with two-photon dissipation

We propose a scheme to generate a single-photon source based on photon blockade in the Jaynes-Cummings (J-C) model with a two-photon dissipation (TPD) process. We present the optimal conditions for conventional/unconventional photon blockade via the wave function method with an effective Hamiltonian involving TPD. The results show that the second-order correlation function for the J-C model with TPD is considerably less than that of the J-C model with single-photon dissipation. Additionally, the average photon number can reach 0.5 in the large atomic detuning regime. This feature makes the J-C model with TPD a high-quality single photon source.

Two-color unidirectional reflections by modulating the spatial susceptibility in a homogeneous atomic medium

Non-reciprocal reflections of optical signals are unusual yet fascinating to achieve the imminent applications of non-reciprocal photonic devices and circuits. The complete non-reciprocal reflection (unidirectional reflection) was recently found to be achievable in a homogeneous medium, if the real and imaginary parts of the probe susceptibility satisfy the spatial Kramers-Kronig (KK) relation. We propose a coherent four-level tripod model for realizing dynamically tunable two-color non-reciprocal reflections by applying two control fields with linearly modulated intensities. We found that, the unidirectional reflection can be obtained if the non-reciprocal frequency regions are located in the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) windows. This mechanism is to break the spatial symmetry by the spatial modulation of susceptibility to induce unidirectional reflections, the real and imaginary parts of the probe susceptibility are no longer required to satisfy the spatial KK relation.

Tunable Rectification of Diffusion-Wave Fields by Spatiotemporal Metamaterials

The diffusion process is the basis of many branches of science and engineering, and generally obeys reciprocity between two ports of a linear time-invariant medium. Recent research on classical wave dynamics has explored the spatiotemporal modulation to exhibit preferred directions in photons and plasmons. Here we report a distinct rectification effect on diffusion-wave fields by modulating the conductivity and observe nonreciprocal transport of charges. We experimentally create a spatiotemporal diffusion metamaterial, in which a mode transition to zero frequency is realized. A direct current component thereby emerges, showcasing a biased effect on the charge diffusion when the incident fundamental frequency is a multiple of the system modulation frequency. These results may find applications spanning a plethora of diffusive fields in general.

Beating the 3 dB Limit for Intracavity Squeezing and Its Application to Nondemolition Qubit Readout

While the squeezing of a propagating field can, in principle, be made arbitrarily strong, the cavity-field squeezing is subject to the well-known 3 dB limit, and thus has limited applications. Here, we propose the use of a fully quantum degenerate parametric amplifier (DPA) to beat this squeezing limit. Specifically, we show that by simply applying a two-tone driving to the signal mode, the pump mode can, counterintuitively, be driven by the photon loss of the signal mode into a squeezed steady state with, in principle, an arbitrarily high degree of squeezing. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this intracavity squeezing can increase the signal-to-noise ratio of longitudinal qubit readout exponentially with the degree of squeezing. Correspondingly, an improvement of the measurement error by many orders of magnitude can be achieved even for modest parameters. In stark contrast, using intracavity squeezing of the semiclassical DPA cannot practically increase the signal-to-noise ratio and thus improve the measurement error. Our results extend the range of applications of DPAs and open up new opportunities for modern quantum technologies.

Squeezed light generated with hyperradiance without nonlinearity

We propose that the squeezed light accompanied by hyperradiance is induced by quantum interference in a linear system consisting of a high-quality optical cavity and two coherently driven two-level qubits. When two qubits are placed in the cavity with a distance of integer multiple and one-half of wavelengths (i.e., they have the opposite coupling coefficient to the cavity), we show that squeezed light is generated in the hyperradiance regime under the conditions of strong coupling and weak driving. Simultaneously, Klyshko's criterion alternates up and down at unity when the photon number is even or odd. Moreover, the orthogonal angles of the squeezed light can be controlled by adjusting the frequency detuning between the driving field and the qubits. It can be implemented in a variety of quantum systems, including but not limited to two-level systems such as atoms, ions, quantum dots in single-mode cavities.

Parametric-amplification-induced nonreciprocal magnon laser

We theoretically propose a scheme to achieve all-optical nonreciprocal magnon lasing action in a composite cavity optomagnonical system considering of a yttrium iron garnet sphere coupled to a parametric resonator. The magnon lasing behavior can be engendered via the magnon-induced Brillouin scattering process in the cavity optomagnonical system. By unidirectionally driving the χ⁽²⁾-nonlinear resonator with a classical coherent field, the squeezed effect occurs only in the selected direction due to the phase-matching condition, resulting in asymmetric detuning between the two resonators, which is the physical mechanism to generate a nonreciprocal magnon laser. We further examine the gain factor and power threshold of the magnon laser. Moreover, the isolation rate can reach 21 dB by adjusting the amplitude of the parametric amplification. Our work shows a path to obtain an all-optical nonreciprocal magnon laser, which provides a means for the preparation of a coherent magnon laser and laser protection.

Nonreciprocal Single-Photon Band Structure

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.