Michael R. Vanner (Imperial College, London)
Towards quantum optics with Brillouin scattering
Quantum optics is central to many facets of quantum science and technology spanning tests of fundamental physics to quantum-information processing. Progress in quantum optics has been driven by different forms of nonlinearities, however, for such rapid progress to continue, especially at the telecommunications wavelength, new techniques to harness or generate low-loss nonlinearities are required. In this talk, I will present the progress in our team—the Quantum Measurement Lab—to utilize and explore Brillouin scattering in optical microresonators for quantum optics applications. Brillouin scattering is a promising platform for such applications as it unites several favourable properties including: high acoustic frequencies, strong optomechanical coupling [1], and low optical absorption and heating. Three of our recent experimental results in this direction include (i) performing single-phonon addition and subtraction to acoustic thermal states heralded by single-photon detection [2], (ii) tomography of the ring-like non-Gaussian acoustic states created by these operations [3], and (iii) the counterintuitive behaviour of what happens when zero-photons are measured following the Brillouin-scattering interaction [4].
References
[1] Optica 6, 7, (2019).
[2] PRL 126, 033601 (2021).
[3] PRL 127, 243601 (2021).
[4] In preparation.