The rapid expansion of the early universe resulted in the spontaneous production of cos- mological particles from vacuum fluctuations, some of which are observable today in the cosmic microwave background anisotropy. The analogue of cosmological particle creation in a quantum fluid was proposed, but the quantum, spontaneous effect due to vacuum fluc- tuations has not yet been observed. Here we report the spontaneous creation of analogue cosmological particles in the laboratory, using a quenched 3-dimensional quantum fluid of light. We observe acoustic peaks in the density power spectrum, in close quantitative agreement with the quantum-field theoretical prediction. We find that the long-wavelength particles provide a window to early times. This work introduces the quantum fluid of light, as cold as an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate

Characterizing elementary excitations in quantum fluids is essential to study their collective effects. We present an original angle-resolved coherent probe spectroscopy technique to study the dispersion of these excitation modes in a fluid of polaritons under resonant pumping. Thanks to the unprecedented spectral and spatial resolution, we observe directly the low-energy phononic behavior and detect the negative-energy modes, i.e., the ghost branch, of the dispersion relation. In addition, we reveal narrow spectral features precursory of dynamical instabilities due to the intrinsic out-of-equilibrium nature of the system. This technique provides the missing tool for the quantitative study of quantum hydrodynamics in polariton fluids.

Quantum effects of fields on curved spacetimes may be studied in the laboratory thanks to quantum fluids. Here we use a polariton fluid to study the Hawking effect, the correlated emission from the quantum vacuum at the acoustic horizon. We show how out-of-equilibrium physics affects the dispersion relation, and hence the emission and propagation of correlated waves: the fluid properties on either side of the horizon are critical to observing the Hawking effect. We find that emission may be optimised by supporting the phase and density of the fluid upstream of the horizon in a regime of optical bistability. This opens new avenues for the observation of the Hawking effect in out-of-equilibrium systems as well as for the study of new phenomenology of fields on curved spacetimes.

We implement Bragg-like spectroscopy in a paraxial fluid of light by imprinting analogues of short Bragg pulses on the photon fluid using wavefront shaping with a spatial light modulator. We report a measurement of the static structure factor, S(k), and we find a quantitative agreement with the prediction of the Feynman relation revealing indirectly the presence of pair-correlated particles in the fluid. Finally, we improve the resolution over previous methods and obtain the dispersion relation including a linear phononic regime for weakly interacting photons and low sound velocity.

We report on the formation of a dispersive shock wave in a nonlinear optical medium. We monitor the evolution of the shock by tuning the incoming beam power. The experimental observations for the position and intensity of the solitonic edge of the shock, as well as the location of the nonlinear oscillations are well described by recent developments of Whitham modulation theory. Our work constitutes a detailed and accurate benchmark for this approach. It opens exciting possibilities to engineer specific configurations of optical shock wave for studying wave-mean flow interaction.

We study experimentally blast wave dynamics on a weakly interacting fluid of light. The fluid density and velocity are measured in 1D and 2D geometries. Using a state equation arising from the analogy between optical propagation in the paraxial approximation and the hydrodynamic Euler’s equation, we access the fluid hydrostatic and dynamic pressure. In the 2D configuration, we observe a negative differential hydrostatic pressure after the fast expansion of a localized over-density, which is a typical signature of a blast wave for compressible gases. Our experimental results are compared to the Friedlander waveform hydrodynamical model (Friedlander F. G., Proc. R. Soc. A: Math. Phys. Sci., 186 (1946) 322). Velocity measurements are presented in 1D and 2D configurations and compared to the local speed of sound, to identify the supersonic region of the fluid. Our findings show an unprecedented control over hydrodynamic quantities in a paraxial fluid of light.

The interest in perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) such as CsPbBr3 for quantum applications is rapidly raising, as it has been demonstrated that they can behave as very efficient single photon emitters. The main problem to tackle in this context is their photostability under optical excitation. In this article, we present a full analysis of the optical and quantum properties of highly efficient perovskite nanocubes synthesized with an established method, which is used for the first time to produce quantum emitters and is shown to ensure increased photostability. These emitters exhibit reduced blinking together with a strong photon antibunching. Remarkably these features are hardly affected by the increase of the excitation intensity well above the emission saturation levels. Finally, we achieve for the first time the coupling of a single perovskite nanocube with a tapered optical nanofiber in order to aim for a compact integrated single photon source for future applications.

The general theory of dark solitons relies on repulsive interactions and, therefore, predicts the impossibility to form dark-soliton bound states. One important exception to this prediction is the observation of bound solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media. Here, we report that exciton-polariton superfluids can also sustain dark-soliton molecules, although the interactions are fully local. With a novel all-optical technique, we create two dark solitons that bind together to form an unconventional dark-soliton molecule. We demonstrate that the stability of this structure and the separation distance between two dark solitons is tightly connected to the driven-dissipative nature of the polariton fluid.

In this work we implement an experimental configuration which exploits the specific properties of the optical bistability exhibited by the polariton system and we demonstrate the generation of a superfluid turbulent flow in the wake of a potential barrier. The propagation and direction of the turbulent flow are sustained by a support beam on distances an order of magnitude longer than previously reported. This technique is a powerful tool for the controlled generation and propagation of quantum turbulence and paves the way for the study of the hydrodynamics of quantum turbulence in driven-dissipative two-dimensional polariton systems.

Collective excitations, such as vortex-antivortex and dark solitons, are among the most fascinating effects of macroscopic quantum states. However, two-dimensional (2D) dark solitons are unstable and collapse into vortices due to snake instabilities. Making use of the optical bistability in exciton-polariton microcavities, we demonstrate that a pair of dark solitons can be formed in the wake of an obstacle in a polariton flow resonantly supported by a homogeneous laser beam. Unlike the purely dissipative case where the solitons are gray and spatially separate, here the two solitons are fully dark, rapidly align at a specific separation distance, and propagate parallel as long as the flow is in the bistable regime. Remarkably, the use of this regime allows us to relax the phase fixing constraints imposed by the resonant pumping and to circumvent the polariton decay. Our work opens very wide possibilities for studying new classes of phase-density defects which can form in driven-dissipative quantum fluids of light.

Analogue gravity enables the study of fields on curved space–times in the laboratory. There are numerous experimental platforms in which amplification at the event horizon or the ergoregion has been observed. Here, we demonstrate how optically generating a defect in a polariton microcavity enables the creation of one- and two-dimensional, transsonic fluid flows. We show that this highly tuneable method permits the creation of horizons. Furthermore, we present a rotating geometry akin to the water-wave bathtub vortex. These experiments usher in the possibility of observing stimulated as well as spontaneous amplification by the Hawking, Penrose and Zeld’ovich effects in fluids of light. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The next generation of analogue gravity experiments’.

Paraxial fluids of light represent an alternative platform to atomic Bose-Einstein condensates and superfluid liquids for the study of the quantum behavior of collective excitations. A key step in this direction is the precise characterization of the Bogoliubov dispersion relation, as recently shown in two experiments. However, the predicted interferences between the phonon excitations that would be a clear signature of the collective superfluid behavior have not been observed to date. Here, by analytically, numerically, and experimentally exploring the phonon phase velocity, we observe the presence of interferences between counterpropagating Bogoliubov excitations and demonstrate their critical impact on the measurement of the dispersion relation. These results are evidence of a key signature of light superfluidity and provide a characterization tool for quantum simulations with photons.

We report on the realization of a displacement sensor based on an optical nanofiber. A single gold nano-sphere is deposited on top of a nanofiber and the system is placed within a standing wave which serves as a position ruler. Scattered light collected within the guided mode of the fiber gives a direct measurement of the nanofiber displacement. We calibrated our device and found a sensitivity up to 1.2 nm/Hz—{\surd}. As an example of application, a mechanical model based on the Mie scattering theory is then used to evaluate the optically induced force on the nanofiber by an external laser and its displacement. With our sensing system, we demonstrate that an external force of 1 pN applied at the nanofiber waist can be detected.

We investigate the formation of a new class of density-phase defects in a resonantly driven 2D quantum fluid of light. The system bistability allows the formation of low-density regions containing density-phase singularities confined between high-density regions. We show that, in 1D channels, an odd (1 or 3) or even (2 or 4) number of dark solitons form parallel to the channel axis in order to accommodate the phase constraint induced by the pumps in the barriers. These soliton molecules are typically unstable and evolve toward stationary symmetric or antisymmetric arrays of vortex streets straightforwardly observable in cw experiments. The flexibility of this photonic platform allows implementing more complicated potentials such as mazelike channels, with the vortex streets connecting the entrances and thus solving the maze.

We report the fabrication and characterization of photonic structures using tapered optical nanofibers. Thanks to the extension of the evanescent electromagnetic field outside of the nanofiber two types of devices can be built: a ring interferometer and a knot resonator. We propose a general approach to predict the properties of these structures using the linear coupling theory. In addition, we describe a new source of birefringence due to the ovalization of a nanofiber under strong bending, known in mechanical engineering as the Brazier effect.

In quantum optics, the second-order correlation function g(2)(τ) characterizes the photon statistics of a state of light and can be used to distinguish between its classical or quantum nature. In this article, we study a simple setup which offers the possibility to generate quantum states of light with very small g(2)(0), a signature of strong anti-bunched light. This can be achieved by mixing on a beamsplitter a coherent state with a nonclassical state, such as a squeezed state, and even with a bunched state (g(2)(0) > 1) such as a Schrödinger cat state. We elucidate the interference mechanism generating such strong anti-bunching and relate it to the unconventional photon blockade. We also detail how this effect can be applied to detect weakly squeezed states of light.

We experimentally demonstrate that a linear dipole is not restricted to emit linearly polarized light, provided that it is embedded in the appropriate nanophotonic environment. We observe emission of various elliptical polarizations by a linear dipole, including circularly polarized light, without the need for birefringent components. We further show that the emitted state of polarization can theoretically span the entire Poincaré sphere. The experimental demonstration is based on elongated gold nanoparticles (nanorods) deposited on an optical nanofiber and excited by a free-space laser beam. The light directly collected in the guided mode of the nanofiber is analyzed in regard to the azimuthal position and orientation of the nanorods, observed by means of scanning electron microscopy. We demonstrate a mapping between purely geometrical degrees of freedom of a light source and all polarization states that could open the way to alternative methods for polarization control of light sources at the nanoscale.

Quantum fluids of light are a photonic counterpart to atomic Bose gases and are attracting increasing interest for probing many-body physics quantum phenomena such as superfluidity. Two different configurations are commonly used: the confined geometry where a nonlinear material is fixed inside an optical cavity and the propagating geometry where the propagation direction plays the role of an effective time for the system. The observation of the dispersion relation for elementary excitations in a photon fluid has proved to be a difficult task in both configurations with few experimental realizations. Here, we propose and implement a general method for measuring the excitations spectrum in a fluid of light, based on a group velocity measurement. We observe a Bogoliubov-like dispersion with a speed of sound scaling as the square root of the fluid density. This Letter demonstrates that a nonlinear system based on an atomic vapor pumped near resonance is a versatile and highly tunable platform to study quantum fluids of light.

We report the formation of a macroscopic coherent state emerging from colliding polariton fluids. Four lasers with random relative phases, arranged in a square, pump resonantly a planar microcavity, creating four coherent polariton fluids propagating toward each other. When the density (interactions) increases, the four fluids synchronize and the topological excitations (vortex or soliton) disappear to form a single quantum superfluid.

Nowadays, integrated photonics is a key technology in quantum information processing (QIP) but achieving all-optical buses for quantum networks with efficient integration of single photon emitters remains a challenge. Photonic crystals and cavities are good candidates but do not tackle how to effectively address a nanoscale emitter. Using a nanowire nanowaveguide, we realise an hybrid nanodevice which locally excites a single photon source (SPS). The nanowire acts as a passive or active sub-wavelength waveguide to excite the quantum emitter. Our results show that localised excitation of a SPS is possible and is compared with free-space excitation. Our proof of principle experiment presents an absolute addressing efficiency {\eta}a\,\textasciitilde\,10-4 only \textasciitilde 50\% lower than the one using free-space optics. This important step demonstrates that sufficient guided light in a nanowaveguide made of a semiconductor nanowire is achievable to excite a single photon source. We accomplish a hybrid system offering great potentials for electrically driven SPSs and efficient single photon collection and detection, opening the way for optimum absorption/emission of nanoscale emitters. We also discuss how to improve the addressing efficiency of a dipolar nanoscale emitter with our system.

In this review, we will focus on the description of the recent studies conducted in the quest for the observation of lattices of quantized vortices in resonantly injected polariton superfluids. In particular, we will show how the implementation of optical traps for polaritons allows for the realization of vortex\textendash antivortex lattices in confined geometries and how the development of a flexible method to inject a controlled orbital angular momentum (OAM) in such systems results in the observation of patterns of same-sign vortices.

We report the experimental investigation and theoretical modeling of a rotating polariton superfluid relying on an innovative method for the injection of angular momentum. This novel, multipump injection method uses four coherent lasers arranged in a square, resonantly creating four polariton populations propagating inwards. The control available over the direction of propagation of the superflows allows injecting a controllable nonquantized amount of optical angular momentum. When the density at the center is low enough to neglect polariton-polariton interactions, optical singularities, associated with an interference pattern, are visible in the phase. In the superfluid regime resulting from the strong nonlinear polariton-polariton interaction, the interference pattern disappears and only vortices with the same sign are persisting in the system. Remarkably, the number of vortices inside the superfluid region can be controlled by controlling the angular momentum injected by the pumps.

We present a method that allows determining the band-edge exciton fine structure of CdSe/CdS dot-in-rods samples based on single particle polarization measurements at room temperature. We model the measured emission polarization of such single particles considering the fine structure properties, the dielectric effect induced by the anisotropic shell, and the measurement configuration. We use this method to characterize the band-edge exciton fine structure splitting of various samples of dot-in-rods. We show that, when the diameter of the CdSe core increases, a transition from a spherical like band-edge exciton symmetry to a rod-like band edge exciton symmetry occurs. This explains the often reported large emission polarization of such particles compared to spherical CdSe/CdS emitters.

Exciton-polaritons are light-matter mixed states interacting via their exciton fraction. They can be excited, manipulated and detected using all the versatile techniques of modern optics. An exciton-polariton gas is therefore a unique platform to study out-of-equilibrium interacting quantum fluids. In this work, we report the formation of a ring-shaped array of same sign vortices after injection of angular momentum in a polariton superfluid. The angular momentum is injected by a l = 8 Laguerre-Gauss beam. In the linear regime, a spiral interference pattern containing phase defects is visible. In the nonlinear (superfluid) regime, the interference disappears and eight vortices appear, minimizing the energy while conserving the quantized angular momentum. The radial position of the vortices evolves in the region between the two pumps as a function of the density. Hydrodynamic instabilities resulting in the spontaneous nucleation of vortex-antivortex pairs when the system size is sufficiently large confirm that the vortices are not constrained by interference when nonlinearities dominate the system.

We use the quantum correlations of twin beams of light to investigate the fundamental addition of noise when one of the beams propagates through a fast-light medium based on phase-insensitive gain. The experiment is based on two successive four-wave mixing processes in rubidium vapor, which allow for the generation of bright two-mode-squeezed twin beams followed by a controlled advancement while maintaining the shared quantum correlations between the beams. The demonstrated effect allows the study of irreversible decoherence in a medium exhibiting anomalous dispersion, and for the first time shows the advancement of a bright nonclassical state of light. The advancement and corresponding degradation of the quantum correlations are found to be operating near the fundamental quantum limit imposed by using a phase-insensitive amplifier.

The photon statistics of CdSe/CdS dot-in-rods nanocrystals is studied with a method involving postselection of the photon detection events based on the photoluminescence count rate. We show that flickering between two states needs to be taken into account to interpret the single-photon emission properties. With postselection we are able to identify two emitting states: the exciton and the charged exciton (trion), characterized by different lifetimes and different second-order correlation functions. Measurements of the second-order autocorrelation function at zero delay with postselection shows a degradation of the single-photon emission for CdSe/CdS dot-in-rods in a charged state that we explain by deriving the neutral and charged biexciton quantum yields.

It is widely accepted that information cannot travel faster than c, the speed of light in vacuum. Here, we investigate the behaviour of quantum correlations and information in the presence of dispersion. To do so we send one half of an entangled state of light through a gain-assisted slow- or fast-light medium and detect the transmitted quantum correlations and quantum mutual information. We show that quantum correlations can be advanced by a small fraction of the correlation time, even in the presence of noise added by phase-insensitive gain. Additionally, although the peak of the quantum mutual information between the modes can be advanced, we find that the degradation of the mutual information due to added noise appears to prevent an advancement of the leading edge. In contrast, we demonstrate a significant delay of both the leading and trailing edges of the mutual information in a slow-light system.

Quantum memories are an integral component of quantum repeaters—devices that will allow the extension of quantum key distribution to communication ranges beyond that permissible by passive transmission. A quantum memory for this application needs to be highly efficient and have coherence times approaching a millisecond. Here we report on work towards this goal, with the development of a 87Rb magneto-optical trap with a peak optical depth of 1000 for the D2 F = 2 → F′ = 3 transition using spatial and temporal dark spots. With this purpose-built cold atomic ensemble we implemented the gradient echo memory (GEM) scheme on the D1 line. Our data shows a memory efficiency of 80 ± 2% and coherence times up to 195 μs, which is a factor of four greater than previous GEM experiments implemented in warm vapour cells.

Quantum memories for light lie at the heart of long-distance provably-secure communication. Demand for a functioning quantum memory, with high efficiency and coherence times approaching a millisecond, is therefore at a premium. Here we report on work towards this goal, with the development of a 87Rb magneto-optical trap with a peak optical depth of 1000 for the D2 f = 2 → F′ = 3 transition using spatial and temporal dark spots. With this purpose-built cold atomic ensemble we implemented the gradient echo memory (GEM) scheme on the D1 line. Our data shows a memory efficiency of 80 ± 2% and coherence times up to 195 μs.

We report the generation of a squeezed vacuum state of light whose noise ellipse rotates as a function of the detection frequency. The squeezed state is generated via a four-wave mixing process in a vapor of85Rb. We observe that rotation varies with experimental parameters such as pump power and laser detunings. We use a theoretical model based on the Heisenberg-Langevin formalism to describe this effect. Our model can be used to investigate the parameter space and potentially to tailor the ellipse rotation in order to obtain an optimum squeezing angle, for example, for coupling to an interferometer whose optimal noise quadrature varies with frequency.

We show that portions of an image written into a gradient echo memory can be individually retrieved or erased on demand, an important step toward processing a spatially multiplexed quantum signal. Targeted retrieval is achieved by locally addressing the transverse plane of the storage medium, a warm 85Rb vapor, with a far-detuned control beam. Spatially addressable erasure is similarly implemented by imaging a bright beam tuned near the 85Rb D1 line in order to scatter photons and induce decoherence. Under our experimental conditions atomic diffusion is shown to impose an upper bound on the effective spatial capacity of the memory. The decoherence induced by the optical eraser is characterized and modeled as the response of a two-level atom in the presence of a strong driving field.

We experimentally determine the Gaussian quantum discord present in two-mode squeezed vacuum generated by a four-wave mixing process in hot rubidium vapor. The frequency spectra of the discord as well as the quantum and classical mutual information are also measured. In addition, the effects of symmetric attenuation introduced into both modes of the squeezed vacuum on the Gaussian quantum discord, and the quantum mutual information and the classical correlations are examined experimentally. Finally, we show that due to the multi-spatial-mode nature of the four-wave mixing process, the Gaussian quantum discord may exhibit sub- or superadditivity depending on which spatial channels are selected.

We show that it is possible to use the spatial quantum correlations present in twin beams to extract information about the shape of a binary amplitude mask in the path of one of the beams. The scheme, based on noise measurements through homodyne detection, is useful in the regime where the number of photons is low enough that direct detection with a photodiode is difficult but high enough that photon counting is not an option. We find that under some conditions the use of quantum states of light leads to an enhancement of the sensitivity in the estimation of the shape of the mask over what can be achieved with a classical state with equivalent properties (mean photon flux and noise properties). In addition, we show that the level of enhancement that is obtained is a result of the quantum correlations and cannot be explained with only classical correlations.

Using four-wave mixing in a hot atomic vapor, we generate a pair of entangled twin beams in the microsecond pulsed regime near the D1 line of 85Rb, making it compatible with commonly used quantum memory techniques. The beams are generated in the bright and vacuum-squeezed regimes, requiring two separate methods of analysis, without and with local oscillators, respectively. We report a noise reduction of up to 3.8 ± 0.2 dB below the standard quantum limit in the pulsed regime and a level of entanglement that violates an Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen inequality.

We study the generation of intensity quantum correlations using four-wave mixing in a rubidium vapor. The absence of cavities in these experiments allows to deal with several spatial modes simultaneously. In the standard amplifying configuration, we measure relative intensity squeezing up to 9.2 dB below the standard quantum limit. We also theoretically identify and experimentally demonstrate an original regime where, despite no overall amplification, quantum correlations are generated. In this regime, a four-wave mixing setup can play the role of a photonic beam splitter with nonclassical properties, that is, a device that splits a coherent state input into two quantum-correlated beams.

We present theoretical and experimental results on the generation and detection of pulsed, relative-intensity squeezed light in a hot 87Rb vapor. The intensity noise correlations between a pulsed probe beam and its conjugate, generated through nearly degenerate four-wave mixing in a double-lambda system, are studied numerically and measured experimentally via time-resolved balanced detection. We predict and observe approximately − 1 dB of time-resolved relative-intensity squeezing with 50 ns pulses at 1 MHz repetition rate. (− 1.34 dB corrected for loss).

Motivated by recent experiments, we study four-wave-mixing in an atomic double-Λ system driven by a far-detuned pump. Using the Heisenberg-Langevin formalism, and based on the microscopic properties of the medium, we calculate the classical and quantum properties of seed and conjugate beams beyond the linear amplifier approximation. A continuous-variable approach gives us access to relative-intensity noise spectra that can be directly compared with experiments. Restricting ourselves to the cold-atom regime, we predict the generation of quantum-correlated beams with a relative-intensity noise spectrum well below the standard quantum limit (down to −6 dB). Moreover, entanglement between seed and conjugate beams measured by an inseparability down to 0.25 is expected. This work opens the way to the generation of entangled beams by four-wave mixing in a cold-atom sample.

This paper reports on the use of ultrafast pulses for photoionisation loading of singly-ionised strontium ions in a linear Paul trap. We take advantage of an autoionising resonance of Sr neutral atoms to form Sr+ by two-photon absorption of femtosecond pulses at a wavelength of 431 nm. We compare this technique to electron-bombardment ionisation and observe several advantages of photoionisation. It actually allows for the loading of a pure Sr+ ion cloud in a low radio-frequency voltage amplitude regime. In these conditions, up to 4\texttimes 104 laser-cooled Sr+ ions were trapped.

This paper reports on trapping and laser cooling of singly ionized strontium ions in a linear Paul trap. We describe the loading technique based on two-photon absorption of femtosecond pulses at a wavelength of 431 nm and we compare this technique to electron-bombardment ionization. We perform Doppler cooling of the ions in the few-ions regime as well as in the case of large clouds. The analysis of the fluorescence spectra and direct imaging of the cloud allows us to identify the Coulomb-crystal regime. These experiments open the way to the use of a large cold trapped-ion cloud as a medium for quantum optics and quantum information experiments.