Quantum imaging,quantum lithography and the uncertainty principle

One of the most surprising consequences of quantum mechanics is the entanglement of two or more distant particles. Even though we still have questions in regard to fundamental issues of the entangled quantum systems, quantum entanglement has started to play important roles in practical applications. Quantum imaging is one of the hot topics. Quantum imaging has many interesting features which are useful for different applications. For example, quantum imaging can be nonlocal, which is useful for secure two-dimensional information transfer. Quantum imaging can reach a much higher spatial resolution comparing with classical imaging, even beyond the diffraction limit, which is useful for lithography and other microsystem fabrication technology. It is not a violation of the uncertainty principle, however, a quantum mechanical multi-particle phenomenon. Received 30 August 2002 / Received in final form 11 November 2002 Published online 4 February 2003     

Quantum effects in the interaction of the exciton with a leaky quasi-mode cavity

We have studied quantum effects in the interaction of the exciton with a leaky quasi-mode cavity field. When the exciton is initially prepared in a superposition state which exhibits holes in its photon-number distribution, whereas the cavity field initially is in the vacuum state, it is found that there exists an energy exchange between the exciton and the cavity field. The exciton and the cavity field may exhibit sub-Poissonian distributions and quadrature squeezings. It is shown that there does not exist a violation of the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality, which means that the correlation between the exciton and the cavity field is classical. Received 25 November 2000 and Received in final form 1st January 2001     

Shor and Preskill's and Mayers's security proof for the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol

We review two security proofs for the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol: Mayers's security proof and the more recent proof of Shor and Preskill. We focus on the basic principles and the intuition in Mayers's proof instead of technical details. We present a variation on Shor's and Preskill's proof which is convenient for purpose of comparison. We explain the connection between these two proofs. Received 14 July 2001     

Direct experimental test of non-separability and other quantum techniques using continuous variables of light

We present schemes for the generation and evaluation of continuous variable entanglement of bright optical beams and give a brief overview of a variety of optical techniques and quantum communication applications on this basis. A new entanglement-based quantum interferometry scheme with bright beams is suggested. The performance of the presented schemes is independent of the relative interference phase which is advantageous for quantum communication applications. Received 1st August 2001     

Quantum state transfer from light beams to atomic ensembles

We show the equivalence between an ensemble of two-level atoms driven by a squeezed vacuum field, and a harmonic oscillator coupled to a squeezed field. We give the conditions for optimal squeezing transfer from the field to the atomic ensemble. We show that EPR-type correlations are created between the atomic ensemble and the incoming field. Received 23 January 2001     

Triggered single photons and entangled photons from a quantum dot microcavity

Current quantum cryptography systems are limited by the attenuated coherent pulses they use as light sources: a security loophole is opened up by the possibility of multiple-photon pulses. By replacing the source with a single-photon emitter, transmission rates of secure information can be improved. We have investigated the use of single self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots as such single-photon sources, and have seen a tenfold reduction in the multi-photon probability as compared to Poissonian pulses. An extension of our experiment should also allow for the generation of triggered, polarization-entangled photon pairs. The utility of these light sources is currently limited by the low efficiency with which photons are collected. However, by fabricating an optical microcavity containing a single quantum dot, the spontaneous emission rate into a single mode can be enhanced. Using this method, we have seen 78% coupling of single-dot radiation into a single cavity resonance. The enhanced spontaneous decay should also allow for higher photon pulse rates, up to about 3 GHz. Received 8 July 2001 and Received in final form 25 August 2001     

Effective quantum efficiency in the pulsed homodyne detection of a n-photon state

Homodyne detection can be used to perform measurements on various quantum states of the light, such as conditional single photon states produced by parametric fluorescence processes. In the pulsed regime, the time and frequency overlap between the single photon wave packet and the local oscillator field plays a crucial role. We show in this paper that this overlap can be characterized by an effective quantum efficiency, which is explicitly calculated in various situations of experimental interest. Received 27 July 2000 and Received in final form 29 November 2000     

Intensity noise of injected Nd:YVO 4 microchip lasers

The combined effects of the pump noise suppression and injection locking technique on the intensity noise of a diode pumped Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser are theoretically and experimentally investigated. Complete cancellation of the relaxation oscillation peak is experimentally achieved. Very good agreement between experimental results and theoretical predictions of a fully quantum model describing lasers with injected signal is found. Received 10 December 2001 and Received in final form 6 March 2002     

Collective atomic spin squeezing and control

Using a quantum theory for an ensemble of two- or three-level atoms driven by electromagnetic fields in an optical cavity, we show that the various spins associated with the atomic ensemble can be squeezed. Two kinds of squeezing are obtained: on the one hand self-spin squeezing when the input fields are coherent ones and the atomic ensemble exhibits a large non-linearity; on the other hand squeezing transfer when one of the incoming fields is squeezed. Received 14 August 2001 and Received in final form 7 November 2001     

Series solution to the laser-ion interaction in a Raman-type configuration

The Raman interaction of a ultracold ion trapped with two travelling wave lasers is studied analytically with series solutions, in the absence of the rotating wave approximation (RWA) and without restrictions of both the Lamb-Dicke limit and the weak excitation regime. The comparison is made between our solutions and those obtained under the RWA in order to demonstrate the validity region of the RWA. As a practical example, the preparation of Schr?dinger-cat states is proposed beyond the weak excitation regime, using our calculations. Received 12 March 2001 and Received in final form 16 October 2001     

Photon entanglement in the phase-space Q representation of quantum optics

Several examples of photon entanglement are studied in the Q representation of quantum optics. In particular, the entangled states produced in parametric downconversion are studied in detail, and we determine the conditions for the violation of Bell's inequality. Our approach shows that photon entanglement is related to the existence of correlations between the quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field associated to different modes. Received 10 August 2002 / Received in final form 7 November 2002 Published online 4 February 2003     

Continuous variables quantum switch teleportation using two-mode squeezed light

We propose a novel quantum switch teleportation with a continuous variable, which can teleport a quantum state to two different receivers alternatively, using a pair of two-mode squeezed lights as the quantum switching to manipulate the transmission route. In this scheme, the EPR entangled beams shared by sender and receivers are produced by mixing a pair of two-mode squeezed lights on one beamsplitter and separating them by using a polarizing beam splitter. The teleportation capability of this system is examined by the criteria proposed by Ralph and Lam [#!ralph!#] from a small signal quantum optical point of view. Received 20 May 2002 / Received in final form 29 July 2002 Published online 24 September 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: zhangyun@crl.go.jp     

Quantum images in non degenerate optical parametric oscillators

Quantum images, that is inhomogeneous field distributions purely generated by quantum fluctuations, persist when passing from the degenerate to the non-degenerate case of optical parametric oscillators (OPO). Below the threshold for parametric oscillation where the near-field distributions are homogeneous both in intensity and phase, appropriate spatial correlation functions anticipate the transverse spatial pattern that appears above threshold. In particular, the angular dependence of the far field spatial correlation function is able to reveal the travelling-wave nature of the phase pattern above threshold typical of nondegenerate OPOs. Cross-correlation functions between signal and idler intensities show clear evidence of the non-classical nature of the output light. Received 8 October 1999     

Proposal for preparing entangled coherent states using atom-cavity-mode Raman interaction

A scheme for preparing entangled coherent states is presented. It is based on the atom-cavity-mode Raman interaction. We also generalize this method for generating multi-mode entangled coherent states. Finally, our experimental feasibility is discussed. Received 15 September 2001 and Received in final form 15 November 2001     

Room temperature stable single-photon source

We report on the realization of a stable solid state room temperature source for single photons. It is based on the fluorescence of a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color center in a diamond nanocrystal. Antibunching has been observed in the fluorescence light under both continuous and pulsed excitation. Our source delivers 2×10⁴ s^-1 single-photon pulses at an excitation repetition rate of 10 MHz. The number of two-photon pulses is reduced by a factor of five compared to strongly attenuated coherent sources. Received 1st August 2001 and Received in final form 2 October 2001     

Conductivity of ultrathin Pb films during growth on Si(111) at low temperatures

The dipole modes of non-parabolic quantum dots are studied by means of their current and density patterns as well as with their local absorption distribution. The anticrossing of the so-called Bernstein modes originates from the coupling with electron-hole excitations of the two Landau bands which are occupied at the corresponding magnetic fields. Non-quadratic terms in the potential cause an energy separation between bulk and edge current modes in the anticrossing region. On a local scale the fragmented peaks absorb energy in complementary spatial regions which evolve with the magnetic field. Received 3 December 2001 / Received in final form 5 April 2002 Published online 9 July 2002     

Quantum spin dynamics as a model for quantum computer operation

We study effects of the physical realization of quantum computers on their logical operation. Through simulation of physical models of quantum computer hardware, we analyze the difficulties that are encountered in programming physical realizations of quantum computers. Examples of logically identical implementations of the controlled-NOT operation and Grover's database search algorithm are used to demonstrate that the results of a quantum computation are unstable with respect to the physical realization of the quantum computer. We discuss the origin of these instabilities and discuss possibilities to overcome this, for practical purposes, fundamental limitation of quantum computers. Received 5 November 2001 and Received in final form 8 February 2002     

EPR entangled states and complex fractional Fourier transformation

Starting from the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled state representations of continuous variables we derive a new formulation of complex fractional Fourier transformation (CFFT). We find that two-variable Hermite polynomials are just the eigenmodes of the CFFT. In this way the CFFT is linked to the appropriate operator transformation between two kinds of entangled states in the context of quantum mechanics. In so doing, the CFFT of quantum mechanical wave functions can be derived more directly and concisely. Received 21 February 2002 / Received in final form 1st June 2002 Published online 24 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Work supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 10175057 and the President Foundation of Chinese Academy of Science. RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: fhym@ustc.edu.cn     

What does an observed quantum system reveal to its observer?

The evolution of a quantum system under observation becomes retarded or even impeded. We review this “quantum Zeno effect” in the light of the criticism that has been raised upon a previous attempt to demonstrate it, of later reexaminations of both the projection postulate and the significance of the observations, and of the results of a recent experiment on an individual cold atom. Here, the micro-state of the quantum system gets unveiled with the observation, and the effect of measurement is no longer mixed up with dephasing the object's wave function by the reactive effect of the detection. A procedure is outlined that promises to provide, by observation, an upper limit for the delay of even an exponential decay. Received 11 January 2001 and Received in final form 28 February 2001     

Spontaneous emission from a three-level atom embedded in an anisotropic photonic crystal

We study the spontaneous emission properties of a V-type three-level atom embedded in a photonic crystal with the anisotropic dispersion relation. We show that the localized field can disappear and the diffusion field can become intense in some regions. This originates from no singularity of the density of states. The quantum interference leads to oscillatory, quasi-oscillatory or complete decay behavior of population. The complete decay can also be realized in certain condition without depending on the initial state. Received 9 April 2000 and Received in final form 1st August 2000