G.-C. Guo

Fabrication of high-Q polydimethylsiloxane optical microspheres for thermal sensing

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) optical microspheres are fabricated and whispering gallery modes with quality factors of 106 in the 1480 nm band are demonstrated. The dependence of the resonance shifts on the input power is investigated in both the transient (blueshift) and the steady-state (redshift) regimes. Moreover, we demonstrate that such high-Q PDMS optical resonators can be used as highly sensitive thermal sensors with temperature sensitivity of 0.245u2002nm/°C, which is one order of magnitude higher than conventional silica microsphere resonators. The estimated thermal resolution of the sensor is 2×10−4u2009°C.

REDUCING DECOHERENCE IN QUANTUM-COMPUTER MEMORY WITH ALL QUANTUM BITS COUPLING TO THE SAME ENVIRONMENT

Decoherence in quantum-computer memory due to the inevitable coupling to the external environment is examined. We make the assumption that all quantum bits (qubits) interact with the same environment rather than the assumption of separate environments for different qubits. It is found that the qubits decohere collectively. For some kinds of entangled input states, no decoherence occurs at all in the memory, even if the qubits are interacting with the environment. Based on this phenomenon, a scheme is proposed for reducing the collective decoherence. We also discuss possible implications of this decoherence model for quantum measurements.

Experimental recovery of quantum correlations in absence of system-environment back-action

Revivals of quantum correlations in composite open quantum systems are a useful dynamical feature against detrimental effects of the environment. Their occurrence is attributed to flows of quantum information back and forth from systems to quantum environments. However, revivals also show up in models where the environment is classical, thus unable to store quantum correlations, and forbids system-environment back-action. This phenomenon opens basic issues about its interpretation involving the role of classical environments, memory effects, collective effects and system-environment correlations. Moreover, an experimental realization of back-action-free quantum revivals has applicative relevance as it leads to recover quantum resources without resorting to more demanding structured environments and correction procedures. Here we introduce a simple two-qubit model suitable to address these issues. We then report an all-optical experiment which simulates the model and permits us to recover and control, against decoherence, quantum correlations without back-action. We finally give an interpretation of the phenomenon by establishing the roles of the involved parties.

Plasmon modes of silver nanowire on a silica substrate

Plasmon mode in a silver nanowire is theoretically studied when the nanowire is placed on or near a silica substrate. It is found that the substrate has much influence on the plasmon mode. For the nanowire on the substrate, the plasmon (hybrid) mode possesses not only a long propagation length but also an ultrasmall mode area. From the experimental point of view, this cavity-free structure holds a great potential to study a strong coherent interaction between the plasmon mode and single quantum system (for example, quantum dots) embedded in the substrate.

Broadband integrated polarization beam splitter with surface plasmon

A broadband integrated waveguide polarization beam splitter consisting of a metal nanoribbon and two dielectric waveguides is proposed and numerically investigated. This surface plasmon based device provides a unique approach for polarization sensitive manipulation of light in an integrated circuit and will be essential for future classical and quantum information processes.

Experimental Quantification of Asymmetric Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering describes the ability of one observer to nonlocally steer the other observers state through local measurements. EPR steering exhibits a unique asymmetric property; i.e., the steerability can differ between observers, which can lead to one-way EPR steering in which only one observer obtains steerability in the steering process. This property is inherently different from the symmetric concepts of entanglement and Bell nonlocality, and it has attracted increasing interest. Here, we experimentally demonstrate asymmetric EPR steering for a class of two-qubit states in the case of two measurement settings. We propose a practical method to quantify the steerability. We then provide a necessary and sufficient condition for EPR steering and clearly demonstrate one-way EPR steering. Our work provides new insight into the fundamental asymmetry of quantum nonlocality and has potential applications in asymmetric quantum information processing.

Low-threshold microlaser in a high- Q asymmetrical microcavity

We experimentally report an asymmetrical spherical microcavity with thermal-induced deformation, in which five-bounce whispering-gallery modes possess not only ultrahigh quality factors (Q) but also remarkably directional escape emission from the microsphere boundary. With efficient free-space excitation and collection, a low-threshold microlaser is demonstrated and exhibits a highly directional emission. Our measurement agrees well with the theoretical predictions by corrected Fresnel law.

Temperature dependent energy level shifts of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond

Magnetic resonance and fluorescence spectra of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers ensemble in high purity diamond sample were measured, with temperature ranging from 5.6u2009K to 295u2009K. Both microwave and optical transition energies have similar nonlinear temperature dependent changes, which might mainly originate from the local thermal expansion. As the frequency shifts will reduce the fidelity of resonant quantum control, the present results demonstrate the necessity of taking temperature fluctuation into consideration. For temperature below 100u2009K, the transition energies show tendencies to be constant, which indicate higher stability and performance in applications with NV centers.

Computation of topological charges of optical vortices via nondegenerate four-wave mixing

In this paper, we report an experiment, which demonstrates computation of topological charges of two optical vortices via a nondegenerate four-wave-mixing process. We show that the output signal photon carries orbital angular momentum which equals to the subtraction of the orbital angular momenta of the probe light photon and the backward pump light photon. The {sup 85}Rb atoms are used as the nonlinear medium, which transfers the orbital angular momenta of lights.

Experimental demonstration of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering game based on the all-versus-nothing proof.

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering, a generalization of the original concept of steering proposed by Schrödinger, describes the ability of one system to nonlocally affect another systems states through local measurements. Some experimental efforts to test EPR steering in terms of inequalities have been made, which usually require many measurement settings. Analogy to the all-versus-nothing (AVN) proof of Bells theorem without inequalities, testing steerability without inequalities would be more strong and require less resources. Moreover, the practical meaning of steering implies that it should also be possible to store the state information on the side to be steered, a result that has not yet been experimentally demonstrated. Using a recent AVN criterion for two-qubit entangled states, we experimentally implement a practical steering game using quantum memory. Furthermore, we develop a theoretical method to deal with the noise and finite measurement statistics within the AVN framework and apply it to analyze the experimental data. Our results clearly show the facilitation of the AVN criterion for testing steerability and provide a particularly strong perspective for understanding EPR steering.