Nonlinear Zeeman Effects in the Cavity-Enhanced Emission of Polarised Photons

TL;DR

This paper explores how nonlinear Zeeman effects impact the performance of a polarised single-photon source using a 87Rb atom in a cavity, combining theoretical modeling and experimental validation to improve future designs.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of nonlinear Zeeman effects on atom-photon interfaces and proposes cavity design strategies to mitigate these effects for enhanced performance.

Findings

Nonlinear Zeeman effects cause asymmetry and inhibition in photon emission.

Hong-Ou-Mandel interference confirms system coherence.

Optimized cavity designs can reduce nonlinear Zeeman impacts.

Abstract

We theoretically and experimentally investigate nonlinear Zeeman effects within a polarised single-photon source that uses a single 87Rb atom strongly coupled to a high finesse optical cavity. The breakdown of the atomic hyperfine structure in the D2 transition manifold for intermediate strength magnetic fields is shown to result in asymmetric and, ultimately, inhibited operation of the polarised atom-photon interface. The coherence of the system is considered using Hong-Ou-Mandel interference of the emitted photons. This informs the next steps to be taken and the modelling of future implementations, based on feasible cavity designs operated in regimes minimising nonlinear Zeeman effects, is presented and shown to provide improved performance.