Summary form only given. It is well-known that nonlinear interference effects in the resonant atom-light interaction can lead to interesting and important phenomena, such as electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) of atomic medium, coherent population trapping, lasing without inversion, and others. Common to all these phenomena is the appearance of light-induced coherence between atomic levels, which are not coupled by dipole transitions. Recently Akulshin and co-workers (1998-9) have observed subnatural-width resonances in the absorption on the D/sub 2/ line of rubidium vapor under excitation by two copropagating optical waves with variable frequency offset. It is remarkable that, apart from expected EIT-resonances with negative sign, authors detected positive resonances termed as electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA). More recently, similar effects in a (3+5)-state system have been described as a result of constructive interference of the dipole excitation channels. We propose a simple theoretical model for EIA - a four-state N-atom. Remember that three-state /spl Lambda/- and V-systems give the EIT-resonances only.

Electromagnetically induced absorption in a four-state system

We report the dispersive charge-state readout of a double quantum dot in the few-electron regime using the in situ gate electrodes as sensitive detectors. We benchmark this gate sensing technique against the well established quantum point contact charge detector and find comparable performance with a bandwidth of ∼ 10 MHz and an equivalent charge sensitivity of ∼ 6.3 × 10(-3) e/sqrt[Hz]. Dispersive gate sensing alleviates the burden of separate charge detectors for quantum dot systems and promises to enable readout of qubits in scaled-up arrays.

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Dispersive Readout of a Few-Electron Double Quantum Dot with Fast rf Gate-Sensors

Tunnel through and emit coherently The generation of coherent light (lasers and masers) forms the basis of a large optics industry. Liu et al. demonstrate a type of laser that is driven by the tunneling of single electrons in semiconductor double-quantum dots. Distinct from other existing semiconductor lasers, the emission mechanism is driven by tunneling of single charges between discrete energy levels that are electrically tunable. The ability to tune the levels by single-electron charging would allow their laser (or maser) to be turned on and off rapidly. Science, this issue p. 285 A coherent microwave source that is driven by the tunneling of single electrons is demonstrated. The coherent generation of light, from masers to lasers, relies upon the specific structure of the individual emitters that lead to gain. Devices operating as lasers in the few-emitter limit provide opportunities for understanding quantum coherent phenomena, from terahertz sources to quantum communication. Here we demonstrate a maser that is driven by single-electron tunneling events. Semiconductor double quantum dots (DQDs) serve as a gain medium and are placed inside a high-quality factor microwave cavity. We verify maser action by comparing the statistics of the emitted microwave field above and below the maser threshold.

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Semiconductor double quantum dot micromaser

Rydberg atoms have been used for measuring radio-frequency (RF) electric (E)-fields due to their strong dipole moments over the frequency range of 500 MHz-1 THz. For this, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) within the Autler-Townes (AT) regime is used such that the detected E-field is proportional to AT splitting. However, for weak E-fields AT peak separation becomes unresolvable thus limiting the minimum detectable E-field. Here, we demonstrate using the Rydberg atoms as an RF mixer for weak E-field detection well below the AT regime with frequency discrimination better than 1 Hz resolution. A heterodyne detection scenario with two E-fields incident on a vapor cell filled with cesium atoms is used. One E-field at 19.626000 GHz drives the 34D5/2 → 35P3/2 Rydberg transition and acts as a local oscillator (LO) and a second signal E-field (Sig) of interest is at 19.626090 GHz. In the presence of the LO, the Rydberg atoms naturally down convert the Sig field to a 90 kHz intermediate frequency (IF) signal. This IF signal manifests as an oscillation in the probe laser intensity through the Rydberg vapor and is easily detected with a photodiode and lock-in amplifier. In the configuration used here, E-field strength down to ≈ 46 μV/m ± 2 μV/m were detected with a sensitivity of ≈ 79 μVm−1Hz−1/2. Furthermore, neighboring fields 0.1 Hz away and equal in strength to Sig could be discriminated without any leakage into the lock-in signal. For signals 1 Hz away and as high as +60 dB above Sig, leakage into the lock-in signal could be kept below -3 dB.

Weak electric-field detection with sub-1 Hz resolution at radio frequencies using a Rydberg atom-based mixer

Polarization‐independent multiband metamaterials absorber by fundamental cavity mode of multilayer microstructure

An enhanced measurement of the microwave electric (MW E) field by using intracavity Rydberg atoms is proposed. Based on electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), the intracavity atomic system exhibits two EIT windows, resulting in two narrow peaks in the cavity transmission. The peak-to-peak distance is sensitive to MW fields and can be used to probe MW E-field strength. Simulation results show that the detectable minimum strength of the MW fields is nearly eight times smaller than that without a cavity. Due to cavity coupling, the transmission spectrum is greatly narrowed, which improves the measurement resolution substantially. The numerical results show that the spectrum resolution is increased by more than 20 times. Furthermore, the cavity-enhanced measurement scheme seems to be robust against the changes in the control field strength and shows a broadband tunability.

Cavity-enhanced microwave electric field measurement using Rydberg atoms

The enhanced self-Kerr nonlinearity of quantum dot molecules may be used to realize optical cavities with an ultranarrow linewidth and high gain. The resonant tunneling induces constructive interference for the self-Kerr nonlinearity, and then a narrow gain window with large normal dispersion appears with frequency detuning. The competition between linear and nonlinear dispersion leads to strong normal dispersion of the total susceptibility, which significantly narrows the cavity linewidth; the nonlinear gain introduces the total gain effects contributing to high transmission. Simulation results show that the cavity linewidth could be narrowed by nearly 30 times and the transmission peak enhanced about 40 times compared with a linear case.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1612-2011/11/6/065201/pdf

Ultranarrow linewidth and high gain of an optical cavity with enhanced self-Kerr nonlinearity in quantum dot molecules

A tunable, narrow absorption spectrum induced by resonant tunneling is demonstrated and proposed for measuring interdot tunneling. Tunneling-induced absorption (TIA) arises from constructive interference between different transition paths, and the large nonlinear TIA significantly enhances the total absorption. The narrow nonlinear TIA spectrum is sensitive to inter-dot tunneling, and its sensor characteristics, including sensitivity and bandwidth, are investigated in weak-coupling and strong-coupling regimes, respectively.

Tunable, high-sensitive measurement of inter-dot transition via tunneling induced absorption

An efficient scheme for probing electron tunnelling is proposed based on the enhanced cross-Kerr nonlinearity in a double–dot system. Due to resonant tunnelling, the cross-Kerr nonlinearity arises in a transparency window. Its intensity is nearly two orders of magnitude greater than that of the self-Kerr effect under any given conditions, where residual absorption is suppressed due to the competition of nonlinear gain and absorption. The enhanced cross-Kerr effect is sensitive to the tunnelling, so the probe spectrum can detect subtle tunnelling changes. The simulation results show that the probe sensitivity of the nonlinear phase shift is about 0.28 rad/μeV.

Enhanced cross-Kerr effect for probing tunnelling in coupled quantum dots

A scheme for enhancing precursor pulse by Doppler effect is proposed in a room-temperature active-Raman-gain medium. Due to abnormal dispersion between two gain peaks, main fields are advanced and constructively interfere with optical precursors, which leads to enhancement of the transient pulse at the rise edge of the input. Moreover, after Doppler averaging, the abnormal dispersion intensifies and the constructive interference between precursors and main fields is much strengthened, which boosts the transient spike. Simulation results demonstrate that the peak intensity of precursors could be enhanced nearly 20 times larger than that of the input.

Aihong Yang

Papers

Cavity-enhanced microwave electric field measurement using Rydberg atoms

Ultranarrow linewidth and high gain of an optical cavity with enhanced self-Kerr nonlinearity in quantum dot molecules

Tunable, high-sensitive measurement of inter-dot transition via tunneling induced absorption

Enhanced cross-Kerr effect for probing tunnelling in coupled quantum dots

Enhanced optical precursors by Doppler effect via active Raman gain process