Single-photon stored-light Ramsey interferometry using Rydberg polaritons

Jiao, Yuechun; Spong, Nicholas L.R.; Hughes, Oliver D.W.; So, Chloe; Ilieva, Teodora; Weatherill, Kevin J.; Adams, Charles S.

Abstract

We demonstrate a single-photon stored-light interferometer, where a photon is stored in a laser-cooled atomic ensemble in the form of a Rydberg polariton with a spatial extent of 10×1×1µm3. The photon is subject to a Ramsey sequence, i.e., “split” into a superposition of two paths. After a delay of up to 450 ns, the two paths are recombined to give an output dependent on their relative phase. The superposition time of 450 ns is equivalent to a free-space propagation distance of 135 m. We show that the interferometer fringes are sensitive to external fields and suggest that stored-light interferometry could be useful for localized sensing applications.

Citation

Jiao, Y., Spong, N. L., Hughes, O. D., So, C., Ilieva, T., Weatherill, K. J., & Adams, C. S. (2020). Single-photon stored-light Ramsey interferometry using Rydberg polaritons. Optics Letters, 45(20), 5888-5891. https://doi.org/10.1364/ol.405143

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 18, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 15, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Deposit Date: Oct 15, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 29, 2020
• Journal: Optics Letters
• Print ISSN: 0146-9592
• Electronic ISSN: 1539-4794
• Publisher: Optica
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 20
• Pages: 5888-5891
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/ol.405143
• Related Public URLs: https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.04675