2015/02/28 by A. Metelmann, A. A. Clerk · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mes-hall #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevx.5.021025
published as Phys. Rev. X 5, 021025 (2015) · 15 pages, 6 figures
arxiv created 2015/06/05 · arxiv updated 2015/06/17
We discuss a general method for constructing nonreciprocal, cavity-based photonic devices, based on matching a given coherent interaction with its corresponding dissipative counterpart; our method generalizes the basic structure used in the theory of cascaded quantum systems, and can render an extremely wide class of interactions directional. In contrast to standard interference-based schemes, our approach allows directional behavior over a wide bandwidth. We show how it can be used to devise isolators and directional, quantum-limited amplifiers. We discuss in detail how this general method allows the construction of a directional, noise-free phase-sensitive amplifier that is not limited by any fundamental gain-bandwidth constraint. Our approach is particularly well-suited to implementations using superconducting microwave circuits and optomechanical systems.