Description

My research within the Start-fellowship will lie at the interface between quantum information and cavity quantum electrodynamics. In particular, it will explore novel quantum optics phenomena and quantum information schemes using a unique experimental system: a single atom strongly coupled to two crossed optical cavities.

Coupling two optical cavities to different electric dipole transitions from a single atom allows for new possibilities of interaction between the single atom and two photonic modes. We will study the quantum optics phenomena that appear in these situations and engineer the interaction in such a way that it can become useful for quantum information science and applications. We will focus the attention to the interaction between the single atom and single photons that carry qubits encoded in the polarization degree of freedom. The goal will be to engineer this interaction in order to develop new capabilities regarding the storage, the processing and the long-distance distribution of quantum information. In general terms, the project aims to advance the capabilities of atom-cavity systems in the fields of quantum communication and computation.