Researchers at NIST have developed two approaches to generating and manipulating quantum light using atomic vapors as the nonlinear medium. The first approach uses 4-wave mixing in thermal atomic vapors to create squeezed light, which has noise properties below the standard quantum limit. This light can enhance optical trace detection and image processing applications.
The second approach involves strong interactions between Rydberg-excited atoms in an ensemble of trapped, laser-cooled atoms to generate strong nonlinearities at the two-photon level. This can be used for single photon sources and quantum gates between pairs of photons.
Researchers have generated “twin beams” of light using four-wave mixing that are correlated at a level better than classical radiators. These quantum-correlated and entangled images can be used for faint-object detection and information storage in quantum information processing applications.
The ability to generate entangled beams of narrowband light near atomic resonance frequencies will allow researchers to study continuous-variable quantum communications and the effects of optical dispersion on quantum information propagation in phase-sensitive and phase-insensitive optical amplifiers.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/quantum-nonlinear-optics-metrology-and-networking
Keywords: Entanglement, Quantum Correlations, Nonlinear Optics, Squeezed Light, Continuous Variables
