Frontiers in Physics (Jun 2022)

Giant-Cavity-Based Quantum Sensors With Enhanced Performance

  • Y. T. Zhu,
  • Y. T. Zhu,
  • Y. T. Zhu,
  • R. B. Wu,
  • Z. H. Peng,
  • Shibei Xue,
  • Shibei Xue,
  • Shibei Xue

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2022.896596
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Recent progress has revealed that quantum systems with multiple position-dependent couplings, e.g., giant atoms, can exhibit some unconventional phenomena, such as non-exponential decay. However, their potential applications are still open questions. In this paper, we propose a giant-cavity-based quantum sensor for the first time, whose performance can be greatly enhanced compared to traditional cavity-based sensors. In our proposal, two cavities are coupled to a dissipative reservoir at multiple points while they couple to a gain reservoir in a single-point way. To detect an unknown parameter entering the sensor, a waveguide is coupled to one of the cavities where detecting fields can pass through for homodyne detection. We find that multiple position-dependent couplings can induce an inherent non-reciprocal coupling between the cavities, which can enhance the performance of sensors. Compared to the results in the work of Lau and Clerk, (Nat Commun, 2018, 9: 4,320), our output noise can remain at the shot noise level, which is about one order of magnitude lower. In addition, the signal-to-noise ratio per photon is also enhanced by about one order of magnitude. These results showed that the multiple-point coupling structure is beneficial to existing quantum devices.

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