February 23, 2021

Title: Single-photon level nonlinear optics with nanophotonic cavity QED

Abstract: An outstanding challenge in quantum optics is to realize optical nonlinearities at the single photon limit, where a single photon can deterministically control the transmission of another optical field. Cavity Quantum Electro-Dynamics (QED) provides a coherent atom-photon interface that allows a single atom to mediate such photon-photon interactions. In this talk, I will talk about how we realize a coherent spin-photon interface in a solid-state platform by using a nanophotonic cavity QED platform [1], and the use of this device to realize a single-photon switch and transistor [2]. I will highlight the applications of these devices in optical quantum information processing by introducing one of our recent theory works on deterministic generation of loss-tolerant photonic cluster states [3].

Ref: [1] Sun et al., Nature Nanotechnology 11, 539–544 (2016); [2] Sun et al., Science 361 (6397), 57-60 (2018); [3] Zhan and Sun, Physical Review Letters 125, 223601 (2020).

Bio: Shuo Sun is an Assistant Professor of Physics and an Associate Fellow of JILA at the University of Colorado Boulder. Before joining the University of Colorado Boulder in Fall 2020, he worked at Stanford University as a postdoctoral fellow and later as a research scientist in the group of Jelena Vuckovic. He obtained his PhD in 2016 at the University of Maryland, College Park.