Coherent single-photon scattering spectra for a giant-atom waveguide-QED system beyond dipole approximation

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how a giant atom interacts with a waveguide, revealing non-Lorentzian spectra and photonic band gaps due to non-dipole effects, with implications for quantum photonic devices.

Contribution

It provides a full quantum mechanical analytic framework for single-photon scattering in giant-atom waveguide-QED systems beyond the dipole approximation, including non-Markovian effects.

Findings

Non-Lorentzian lineshapes with multiple peaks in non-Markovian regime

Generation of broad photonic band gaps by a single giant atom

Analytic expressions valid in both Markovian and non-Markovian regimes

Abstract

We investigate the single-photon scattering spectra of a giant atom coupled to a one dimensional waveguide via multiple connection points or a continuous coupling region. Using a full quantum mechanical method, we obtain the general analytic expressions for the single-photon scattering coefficients, which are valid in both the Markovian and the non-arkovian regimes. We summarize the influences of the non-dipole effects, mainly caused by the phases accumulated by photons traveling between coupling points, on the scattering spectra. We find that under the Markovian limit, the phase decay is detuning-independent, resulting in Lorentzian lineshapes characterized by the Lamb shifts and the effective decay rates. While in the non-Markovian regime, the accumulated phases become detuning-dependent, giving rise to non-Lorentzian lineshapes, characterized by multiple side peaks and total transmission points. Another interesting phenomenon in the non-Markovian regime is generation of broad photonic band gap by a single giant atom. We further generalize the case of discrete coupling points to the continuum limit with atom coupling to the waveguide via a continuous area, and analyze the scattering spectra for some typical distributions of coupling strength.