1. Phononic bright and dark states: Investigating multi-mode light-matter interactions with a single trapped ion
- Author
-
Parke, Harry, Thomm, Robin, Santos, Alan C., Cidrim, André, Higgins, Gerard, Mallweger, Marion, Kuk, Natalia, Salim, Shalina, Bachelard, Romain, Villas-Boas, Celso J., and Hennrich, Markus
- Subjects
Quantum Physics - Abstract
Interference underpins some of the most practical and impactful properties of both the classical and quantum worlds. In this work we experimentally investigate a new formalism to describe interference effects, based on collective states which have enhanced or suppressed coupling to a two-level system. We employ a single trapped ion, whose electronic state is coupled to two of the ion's motional modes in order to simulate a multi-mode light-matter interaction. We observe the emergence of phononic bright and dark states for both a single phonon and a superposition of coherent states and demonstrate that a view of interference which is based solely on their decomposition in the collective basis is able to intuitively describe their coupling to a single atom. This work also marks the first time that multi-mode bright and dark states have been formed with the bounded motion of a single trapped ion and we highlight the potential of the methods discussed here for use in quantum information processing., Comment: 7 + 5 pages, 6 + 4 figures
- Published
- 2024