Quantum Nonlinear Optics: Foundation of Photonics Technology

量子非线性光学：光子学技术的基础 我们描述了一个旨在利用非线性光学和量子光学的最新进展的研究计划。量子非线性光学(QNLO)是基础物理、应用物理和工程学的交叉学科。人们可以预期，涉及QNLO的强有力的、跨学科的研究计划将产生重要的进展。我们工作的一个方面涉及开发控制光脉冲通过材料系统的速度的方法。这些“慢光”方法的应用包括开发用于光通信的路由器和缓冲器，以及增强的非线性光学相互作用。作为一个具体的例子，作为这个计划的一部分，我们将开发一种芯片规模的光谱仪，通过慢光方法，它可以提供与大型实验室规模仪器相同的光谱分辨率。这种光谱仪将使用纳米制造方法来制造显示出强烈慢光效应的光子晶体结构。这类设备对医疗诊断和恐怖主义威胁检测等应用有着巨大的影响。我们工作的另一个方面是发展量子信息科学的光学方法。我们的方法的动机是观察到光子的横向自由度构成了一个非常大的状态空间。因此，即使只有一个光子也可以携带大量信息。这种大的信息容量可以在量子成像的背景下被利用，例如，提供超分辨率和仅使用少量光子的完整图像的传输。另一个应用，也将是我们研究的主要目标，是开发一个量子密码系统，其中每个光子携带许多比特的信息。这种增加的信息容量可以显著提高用于量子密钥分发的系统的传输速率。

Quantum Nonlinear Optics: Foundation of Photonics Technology We describe a research program aimed at exploiting recent advances in nonlinear optics and quantum optics. The field of quantum nonlinear optics (QNLO) lies at the intersection of fundamental physics, applied physics, and engineering. One can expect important advances to result from a vigorous, interdisciplinary research program involving QNLO. One aspect of our work involves the development of methods for controlling the velocity at which light pulses travel through material systems. Applications of these "slow-light" methods include the development of routers and buffers for optical telecommunications and enhanced nonlinear optical interactions. As a specific example, as part of this program we will develop a chip-scale spectrometer that, by means of slow-light methods, can provide the same spectral resolution as that of large laboratory-scale instruments. This spectrometer will be constructed using nanofabrication methods to create photonic-crystal structures that display strong slow-light effects. Such devices have enormous implications for applications such as medical diagnostics and the detection of terrorism threats. Another aspect of our work entails the development of optical methods for quantum information science. Our approach is motivated by the observation that the transverse degree of freedom of the photon constitutes an extremely large state space. Consequently, large amounts of information can be carried even by a single photon. This large information capacity can be exploited in the context of quantum imaging, for instance to provide super-resolution and the transmission of complete images using only a small number of photons. Another application, which will be a primary goal of our research, is to develop a quantum cryptography system in which each photon carries many bits of information. This increased information capacity can increase dramatically the transmission rates of systems for quantum key distribution.