Long-lifetime coherence in a quantum emitter induced by a metasurface

TL;DR

This paper predicts that metasurfaces can induce long-lifetime coherence in atomic transitions via anisotropic quantum vacuum effects, enabling remote quantum emitter control without coherent laser excitation, with potential applications in quantum entanglement.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method using metasurfaces to generate long-lifetime coherence in atomic Λ-transitions through anisotropic quantum vacuum effects, bypassing the need for laser excitation.

Findings

Metasurface designs effectively create anisotropic quantum vacuum over distances.

Induced coherence can last longer than typical excited state lifetimes.

Potential for remote quantum emitter coupling and entanglement applications.

Abstract

An anisotropic quantum vacuum (AQV) has been predicted to induce quantum interferences during the spontaneous emission process in an atomic $V$-transition [G. S. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5500 (2000)]. Nevertheless, the finite lifetime of the excited states is expected to strongly limit the observability of this phenomenon. In this paper, we predict that an AQV can induce a long-lifetime coherence in an atomic $\Lambda$-transition from the process of spontaneous emission, which has an additional advantage of removing the need for coherent laser excitation. We also carry out two metasurface designs and compare their respective efficiencies for creating an AQV over remote distances. The detection of this coherence induced by a metasurface, in addition to being yet another vindication of quantum electrodynamics, could pave the way towards the remote distance control of coherent coupling between quantum emitters, which is a key requirement to produce entanglement in quantum technology applications.