Enhancing coherent transport in a photonic network using controllable decoherence

Devon N. Biggerstaff; Rene Heilmann; Aidan A. Zecevik; Markus Graefe; Matthew A. Broome; Alessandro Fedrizzi; Stefan Nolte; Alexander Szameit; Andrew G. White; Ivan Kassal

doi:10.1038/ncomms11282

Enhancing coherent transport in a photonic network using controllable decoherence

Devon N. Biggerstaff, Rene Heilmann, Aidan A. Zecevik, Markus Graefe, Matthew A. Broome, Alessandro Fedrizzi, Stefan Nolte, Alexander Szameit, Andrew G. White, Ivan Kassal^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Transport phenomena on a quantum scale appear in a variety of systems, ranging from photosynthetic complexes to engineered quantum devices. It has been predicted that the efficiency of coherent transport can be enhanced through dynamic interaction between the system and a noisy environment. We report an experimental simulation of environment-assisted coherent transport, using an engineered network of laser-written waveguides, with relative energies and inter-waveguide couplings tailored to yield the desired Hamiltonian. Controllable-strength decoherence is simulated by broadening the bandwidth of the input illumination, yielding a significant increase in transport efficiency relative to the narrowband case. We show integrated optics to be suitable for simulating specific target Hamiltonians as well as open quantum systems with controllable loss and decoherence.

Original language	English
Article number	11282
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11282
Publication status	Published - 15 Apr 2016

Keywords

QUANTUM COHERENCE
LIGHT
TEMPERATURE
LATTICES

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10.1038/ncomms11282

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Alessandro Fedrizzi
- A.Fedrizzihw.acuk
- School of Engineering & Physical Sciences - Professor
- School of Engineering & Physical Sciences, Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences - Professor
Person: Academic (Research & Teaching)

Cite this

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title = "Enhancing coherent transport in a photonic network using controllable decoherence",

abstract = "Transport phenomena on a quantum scale appear in a variety of systems, ranging from photosynthetic complexes to engineered quantum devices. It has been predicted that the efficiency of coherent transport can be enhanced through dynamic interaction between the system and a noisy environment. We report an experimental simulation of environment-assisted coherent transport, using an engineered network of laser-written waveguides, with relative energies and inter-waveguide couplings tailored to yield the desired Hamiltonian. Controllable-strength decoherence is simulated by broadening the bandwidth of the input illumination, yielding a significant increase in transport efficiency relative to the narrowband case. We show integrated optics to be suitable for simulating specific target Hamiltonians as well as open quantum systems with controllable loss and decoherence.",

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T1 - Enhancing coherent transport in a photonic network using controllable decoherence

AU - Biggerstaff, Devon N.

AU - Heilmann, Rene

AU - Zecevik, Aidan A.

AU - Graefe, Markus

AU - Broome, Matthew A.

AU - Fedrizzi, Alessandro

AU - Nolte, Stefan

AU - Szameit, Alexander

AU - White, Andrew G.

AU - Kassal, Ivan

PY - 2016/4/15

Y1 - 2016/4/15

N2 - Transport phenomena on a quantum scale appear in a variety of systems, ranging from photosynthetic complexes to engineered quantum devices. It has been predicted that the efficiency of coherent transport can be enhanced through dynamic interaction between the system and a noisy environment. We report an experimental simulation of environment-assisted coherent transport, using an engineered network of laser-written waveguides, with relative energies and inter-waveguide couplings tailored to yield the desired Hamiltonian. Controllable-strength decoherence is simulated by broadening the bandwidth of the input illumination, yielding a significant increase in transport efficiency relative to the narrowband case. We show integrated optics to be suitable for simulating specific target Hamiltonians as well as open quantum systems with controllable loss and decoherence.

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KW - QUANTUM COHERENCE

KW - LIGHT

KW - TEMPERATURE

KW - LATTICES

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M3 - Article

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SN - 2041-1723

VL - 7

JO - Nature Communications

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Enhancing coherent transport in a photonic network using controllable decoherence

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Alessandro Fedrizzi

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