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Entanglement of single-photons and chiral phonons in atomically thin WSe$_2$

Authors :
Chen, Xiaotong
Lu, Xin
Dubey, Sudipta
Yao, Qiang
Liu, Sheng
Wang, Xingzhi
Xiong, Qihua
Zhang, Lifa
Srivastava, Ajit
Publication Year :
2018

Abstract

Quantum entanglement is a fundamental phenomenon which, on the one hand, reveals deep connections between quantum mechanics, gravity and the space-time; on the other hand, has practical applications as a key resource in quantum information processing. While it is routinely achieved in photon-atom ensembles, entanglement involving the solid-state or macroscopic objects remains challenging albeit promising for both fundamental physics and technological applications. Here, we report entanglement between collective, chiral vibrations in two-dimensional (2D) WSe$_2$ host --- chiral phonons (CPs) --- and single-photons emitted from quantum dots (QDs) present in it. CPs which carry angular momentum were recently observed in WSe$_2$ and are a distinguishing feature of the underlying honeycomb lattice. The entanglement results from a "which-way" scattering process, involving an optical excitation in a QD and doubly-degenerate CPs, which takes place via two indistinguishable paths. Our unveiling of entanglement involving a macroscopic, collective excitation together with strong interaction between CPs and QDs in 2D materials opens up ways for phonon-driven entanglement of QDs and engineering chiral or non-reciprocal interactions at the single-photon level.

Details

Database :
arXiv
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.1808.09984
Document Type :
Working Paper
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0366-7