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NASA NTRS2015

Quantum Dots Microstructured Optical Fiber for X-Ray Detection

Microstructured optical fibers containing quantum dots scintillation material comprised of zinc sulfide nanocrystals doped with magnesium sulfide are presented. These quantum dots are applied inside the microstructured optical fibers using capillary action. The x-ray photon counts of these fibers are compared to the output of a collimated CdTe solid state detector over an energy range from 10 to 40 keV. The results of the fiber light output and associated effects of an acrylate coating and the quantum dot application technique are discussed.

DeHaven, Stan↗

NASA NTRS2015

Quantum Dots Microstructured Optical Fiber for X-Ray Detection

A novel concept for the detection of x-rays with microstructured optical fibers containing quantum dots scintillation material comprised of zinc sulfide nanocrystals doped with magnesium sulfide is presented. These quantum dots are applied inside the microstructured optical fibers using capillary action. The x-ray photon counts of these fibers are compared to the output of a collimated CdTe solid state detector over an energy range from 10 to 40 keV. The results of the fiber light output and associated effects of an acrylate coating and the quantum dots application technique are discussed.

DeHaven, S. L.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Quantum Random Walk Simulator Using Ultrafast Optical Switches

Quantum random walk processes have many intriguing applications in high energy physics including the simulation of parton shower evolution. We will present the design and initial results of a fiber loop time-bin quantum walk architecture using the hardware platform already in operation at the Fermilab Quantum Network in which the state of the photon is defined by its time-of-arrival. The fiber loop consists of an unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer implemented using an ultrafast electro-optical switch. The input switch controls the photon path within the interferometer, while the output switch will direct the photon back into the interferometer or to single photon detectors to measure the probability distribution of arrival times. Depending on which path the photon takes each pass through the loop, its wave function will interfere on these optical switches similar to quantum interference on a beam splitter. This work is an important step towards utilizing real-world advantages of quantum information protocols to solve problems in high energy physics.

Cameron, Andrew [Fermilab]↗

DOE OSTI2024

UV hybrid photon detector based on GaN photocathodes and Si low gain avalanche diode

Photon detectors featuring single-photon sensitivity play a crucial role in various scientific domains, including high-energy physics, astronomy, and quantum optics. Fast response time, high quantum efficiency, and minimal dark counts are the characteristics that render them ideal candidates for detecting individual photons with exceptional signal-to-noise ratios, at frequencies in the range of hundreds of MHz. Here, in this study, we report on our first design and operational results on a Hybrid Photon Detector (HPD) that combines the high quantum efficiency of a Gallium Nitride (GaN) photocathode and the low noise characteristics of a Si-based Low-Gain Avalanche Diode (LGAD). This hybrid detection scheme has the potential to reach single-photon detection sensitivity with high quantum efficiency, low noise levels and capable of operating at hundreds of MHz repetition rates.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS1994

On the theory of quantum measurement

Many so called paradoxes of quantum mechanics are clarified when the measurement equipment is treated as a quantized system. Every measurement involves nonlinear processes. Self consistent formulations of nonlinear quantum optics are relatively simple. Hence optical measurements, such as the quantum nondemolition (QND) measurement of photon number, are particularly well suited for such a treatment. It shows that the so called 'collapse of the wave function' is not needed for the interpretation of the measurement process. Coherence of the density matrix of the signal is progressively reduced with increasing accuracy of the photon number determination. If the QND measurement is incorporated into the double slit experiment, the contrast ratio of the fringes is found to decrease with increasing information on the photon number in one of the two paths.

Haus, Hermann A.↗

DOE OSTI2025

When do molecular polaritons behave like optical filters?

This review outlines several linear optical effects featured by molecular polaritons arising in the collective strong light–matter coupling regime. Under weak laser irradiation and when the single-molecule light–matter coupling can be neglected (often in the limit when the number of molecules per photon mode is large), we show that the excited-state molecular dynamics under collective strong coupling can be exactly replicated without the cavity using a shaped (or “filtered”) laser, whose field amplitude is enhanced by the cavity quality factor, shining on the bare molecules. As a consequence, the absorption within a cavity can be understood as the overlap between the polariton transmission and the bare molecular absorption, suggesting that polaritons act in part as optical filters. This framework demystifies and provides a straightforward explanation for a large class of experiments and theoretical models in molecular polaritonics, highlighting that the same effects can be achieved without the cavity with shaped laser pulses. With a few modifications, this simple conceptual picture can also be adapted to understand the incoherent nonlinear response of polaritonic systems. This review establishes a clear distinction between polaritonic phenomena that can be fully explained through classical linear optics and those that require a quantum electrodynamics approach. It also highlights the need to differentiate between effects that necessitate polaritons (i.e., hybrid light–matter states) and those that can occur in the weak coupling regime. Here, we further discuss that certain quantum optical effects like fluorescence can be partially described as optical filtering, whereas some others like cavity-induced Raman scattering go beyond this. Further exploration in these areas is needed to uncover novel polaritonic phenomena beyond optical filtering.

Schwennicke, Kai [University of California, San Di↗

DOE OSTI2026

Intrinsically Quantum Effects of Axion Dark Matter Are Undetectable

Is the usual treatment of axion dark matter as a classical field reliable? We show that the answer is subtle: the axion field could well be in a quantum state that has no complete classical description, but realistic detectors cannot tell the difference. To see this, we solve a fully quantum model of axion detection using quantum optics techniques. We show that intrinsically quantum effects are washed out by mode averaging or small amounts of noise, and significantly suppressed by the weakness of the axion coupling. Our Letter exemplifies that there should always be a classical analog for axion dark matter effects, extends to other wave (ultralight) dark-matter candidates, and gives a general method to compute the effects of exotic dark-matter states.

Bao, Yunjia [University of Chicago, IL (United Sta↗

DOE OSTI2026

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering with squeezed light: CARS for quantum-enhanced spectroscopy and imaging

We theoretically investigate quantum-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) using squeezed light to amplify vibrational transition rates at low photon flux. Quantum sensing approaches are needed for nondestructive nanometrology such as in bioimaging where reduced photodamage is desired while retaining resolution and sensitivity. We analyze both single-mode squeezing applied to the pump field and two-mode squeezing between the pump and Stokes fields. We also show that the ordering of displacement and squeezing operations—whether displacement precedes squeezing or squeezing precedes displacement—has an impact on the resulting CARS transition amplitudes due to a difference in the photon number and the quantum-enhancement coefficients, with the latter offering a stronger enhancement in the case of two modes squeezing of the pump and Stokes under experimentally accessible conditions. Furthermore, our calculations capture these quantum enhancements through the intrinsic photon-number correlations of squeezed light, eliminating the need for interferometric detection or higher pump powers that are otherwise required to reach comparable sensitivities in classical CARS. Finally, we outline a quantum plasmonic extension of our model in which local field enhancements caused by surface plasmon excitation in metallic nanoparticles can be incorporated via mode-selective field amplification factors, offering a pathway toward combining squeezed-light quantum optics with surface-enhanced nanoscale spectroscopy and imaging.

Atomic & molecular structure↗

NASA NTRS2012

Quantum Limits of Space-to-Ground Optical Communications

Quantum limiting factors contributed by the transmitter, the optical channel, and the receiver of a space-to-ground optical communications link are described. Approaches to move toward the ultimate quantum limit are discussed.

free space optical communications↗

DOE OSTI2025

Engineering long-lived entanglement through dissipation in quantum hybrid solid-state platforms

Spin squeezing, a form of many-body entanglement, is a crucial resource in quantum metrology and information processing. While experimentally viable protocols for generating stable spin squeezing have been proposed in quantum optics setups, there is growing interest in quantum hybrid solid-state systems as alternative platforms for both engineering and exploring many-body quantum phenomena. In this work, we propose a scheme to generate long-lived spin squeezing in an ensemble of solid-state qubits interacting with electromagnetic noise emitted by a squeezed solid-state bath. We identify the conditions under which quantum correlations within the bath can be transferred to the qubit array, driving it into an entangled state independently of its initial configuration. To assess the experimental feasibility of our approach, we analyze the dynamics of an array of solid-state spin defects coupled to a common ferromagnetic bath, which is driven into a non-equilibrium squeezed state through its interaction with a surface acoustic wave mode. Our results demonstrate that the ensemble can exhibit steady-state spin squeezing under suitable conditions, opening new pathways for the generation of robust many-body entanglement in solid-state spin ensembles.

NV centers↗

DOE OSTI2025

Digital quantum simulation of cavity quantum electrodynamics: insights from superconducting and trapped ion quantum testbeds

We explore the potential for hybrid development of quantum hardware where currently available quantum computers simulate open cavity quantum electrodynamical (CQED) systems for applications in optical quantum communication, simulation and computing. Our simulations make use of a recent quantum algorithm that maps the dynamics of a singly excited open Tavis–Cummings model containing N atoms coupled to a lossy cavity. We report the results of executing this algorithm on two noisy intermediate-scale quantum computers: a superconducting processor and a trapped ion processor, to simulate the population dynamics of an open CQED system featuring N = 3 atoms. By applying technology-specific transpilation and error mitigation techniques, we minimize the impact of gate errors, noise, and decoherence in each hardware platform, obtaining results which agree closely with the exact solution of the system. These results can be used as a recipe for efficient and platform-specific quantum simulation of cavity–emitter systems on contemporary and future quantum computers.

cavity QED↗

NASA NTRS1986

Physics through the 1990s: Atomic, molecular and optical physics

The volume presents a program of research initiatives in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. The current state of atomic, molecular, and optical physics in the US is examined with respect to demographics, education patterns, applications, and the US economy. Recommendations are made for each field, with discussions of their histories and the relevance of the research to government agencies. The section on atomic physics includes atomic theory, structure, and dynamics; accelerator-based atomic physics; and large facilities. The section on molecular physics includes spectroscopy, scattering theory and experiment, and the dynamics of chemical reactions. The section on optical physics discusses lasers, laser spectroscopy, and quantum optics and coherence. A section elucidates interfaces between the three fields and astrophysics, condensed matter physics, surface science, plasma physics, atmospheric physics, and nuclear physics. Another section shows applications of the three fields in ultra-precise measurements, fusion, national security, materials, medicine, and other topics.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1994

Third International Workshop on Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations

The purpose of these workshops is to bring together an international selection of scientists to discuss the latest developments in Squeezed States in various branches of physics, and in the understanding of the foundations of quantum mechanics. At the third workshop, special attention was given to the influence that quantum optics is having on our understanding of quantum measurement theory. The fourth meeting in this series will be held in the People's Republic of China.

Han, D.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Universal Jaynes-Cummings Control of an Oscillator

The Jaynes-Cummings (JC) interaction-the coherent exchange of excitations between a two-level system and a harmonic oscillator-is one of the fundamental interactions of quantum optics, realized across platforms such as cavity quantum electrodynamics, trapped ions, mechanical resonators, and superconducting circuits. Although JC interactions and qubit rotations form a universal gate set for oscillator control, practical implementations have not been demonstrated. Here we develop and experimentally demonstrate universal JC-based oscillator control by compiling arbitrary unitary gates into sequences of JC interactions and qubit rotations. In our experiment, the oscillator is realized using a mode of a high quality factor microwave cavity and the ancilla qubit using a superconducting transmon circuit, with the JC interaction implemented by a sideband interaction enabled by the Josephson nonlinearity. The native gates are constructed to be closed below a chosen cutoff photon number, encoding a qudit with suppressed leakage errors, while ancilla relaxation errors are detectable. We further find that the dispersive shift serves as a compilation resource that reduces circuit depths. We demonstrate universal qudit control and implement a single-qutrit gate set with a mean post-selected process fidelity of 96%, as well as ququart and ququint shift gates. These results establish Jaynes-Cummings control as a practical route to universal oscillator control, enabling programmable bosonic processors across a variety of quantum platforms.

Huang, Jordan [Rutgers U., Piscataway]↗

DOE OSTI2024

Overcoming the fundamental limit of quantum transduction via intraband entanglement

A quantum transducer converts an input signal to an output probe at a distant frequency band while maintaining the quantum information with high fidelity, which is crucial for quantum networking and distributed quantum sensing and computing. In terms of microwave–optical quantum transduction, the state-of-the-art quantum transducers suffer low transduction efficiency from weak nonlinear coupling, wherein increasing pump power to enhance efficiency inevitably leads to thermal noise from heating. Moreover, we reveal that the efficiency-bandwidth product of a cavity electro-optical or electro-optomechanical transducer is fundamentally limited by pump power and nonlinear coupling coefficient, irrespective of cavity engineering efforts. To overcome this fundamental limit, we propose to noiselessly boost the transduction efficiency by consuming intraband entanglement (e.g., microwave–microwave or optical–optical entanglement in the case of microwave–optical transduction). Via a squeezer–coupler–antisqueezer sandwich structure, the protocol enhances the transduction efficiency to unity in the ideal lossless case, given an arbitrarily weak pump and nonlinear coupling. In practical cavity systems, our entanglement-assisted protocol surpasses the non-assisted fundamental limit of the efficiency-bandwidth product and reduces the threshold cooperativity for positive quantum capacity by a factor proportional to two-mode squeezing gain. Given a fixed cooperativity, our approach increases the broadband quantum capacity by orders of magnitude. The entanglement-assisted advantage is robust to ancilla loss and cavity detuning.

Shi, Haowei [Southern California U.] (ORCID:000000↗

NASA NTRS1984

Investigation of the quantum efficiency of optical heterodyne detectors

The frequency response and quantum efficiency of optical photodetectors for heterodyne receivers is investigated. The measurements utilized two spectral lines from the output of two lasers as input to the photodetectors. These lines are easily measurable in power and frequency and hence serve as known inputs. By measuring the output current of the photodetector the quantum efficiency is determined as a function of frequency separation between the two input signals. An investigation of the theoretical basis and accuracy of this type of measurement relative to similar measurements utilizing risetime is undertaken. A theoretical study of the heterodyne process in photodetectors based on semiconductor physics is included so that higher bandwidth detectors may be designed. All measurements are made on commercially available detectors and manufacturers' specifications for normal photodetector operation are compared to the measured heterodyne characteristics.

Batchman, T. E.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Ab Initio Polariton Spectra of ZnTPP Molecules Collectively Coupled Inside an Optical Cavity

Exciton-polaritons are quasi-particles formed by the quantum mechanical hybridization of electronic and photonic excitations. Despite extensive investigations, a fundamental understanding of molecular polariton spectra and the polariton delocalization from an ab initio theoretical perspective remains elusive. We simulate experimentally measured linear transmission spectroscopy of many Zinc(II) tetraphenylporphyrin (ZnTPP) molecules collectively coupled to a cavity from first principles. Our theoretical approach incorporates many low-lying electronic excitations in ZnTPP molecules, as well as collective light-matter couplings between ZnTPP and the quantized radiation modes, both of which are shown to be the key to accurately recovering the experimental spectra. We further analyzed to what extent the polariton and dark states are delocalized over many molecules, for the first time, using fully ab initio descriptions of the molecules. We finally investigate the line width as a function of detuning, providing new theoretical insights into the experimentally observed motional narrowing behavior. Our work presents first-ofits- kind theoretical studies on molecular polariton spectra, offering a new perspective on molecular polariton formation in realistic ab initio molecular systems whose rich, many-state nature provides spectral features enabled by the high density of electronic states beyond simple quantum optics models.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2026

High-Field Quantum Diamond Magnetometers for Fusion Diagnostics (Final Technical Report)

Summary of research performed to enable all-optical quantum diamond magnetometers for fusion diagnostics, including: the physical mechanisms enabling all-optical photoluminescence contrast as a function of magnetic field magnitude and direction for dense ensembles of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond; the characterization and optimization of NV-diamond material; and related investigations and student training.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗