Collective Strong Coupling of Thermal Atoms to Integrated Microring Resonators

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates collective strong coupling between thermal rubidium vapor and integrated silicon nitride microring resonators, showing potential for scalable quantum photonic systems despite thermal decoherence.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of collective strong coupling with thermal atoms on an integrated photonic chip using silicon nitride MRRs.

Findings

Observed cavity mode splitting with a collective coupling strength of approximately 1 GHz.

Achieved a collective cooperativity of about 2 at 110°C, indicating coherent energy exchange.

Inferred participation of around 20 atoms in the collective interaction.

Abstract

Strong coupling between atomic ensembles and high-quality optical cavities enables collective and nonlinear phenomena that are central to cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED). Although many experiments have been performed on this topic, most of them have focused on cold atoms. Here, we experimentally demonstrate collective strong coupling between thermal rubidium (Rb) vapor and high-quality silicon nitride microring resonators (MRRs) on an integrated photonic chip. We observe cavity mode splitting, with a measured collective coupling strength of $g_N/2\pi \approx 1\,\mathrm{GHz}$ and a collective cooperativity of $C_N\approx2$ at $110\,^\circ\mathrm{C}$, indicating coherent energy exchange between the atomic ensemble and the cavity mode despite rapid decoherence in the thermal vapor system. We infer an average of $20$ atoms participating in the collective interaction, yielding a single-atom cooperativity of $C_0=0.1$ and approaching the single-atom strong-coupling regime. Our results establish the integrated thermal vapor MRR platform as a robust, compact, and scalable system for studying collective and nonlinear phenomena in cQED.