JI research team publishes in Light: Science & Applications

A research team led by the University of Michigan- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI) assistant professor Wenjie Wan recently published a paper titled Optically induced transparency in a micro-cavity in Light: Science & Applications, a top international journal.
Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is one of the greatest discoveries to verify the quantum interference nature of atomic systems. It allows the flipping of an optical opaque transmission window to a transparent one under a secondary coherent illumination beam even at the few-photon limit, which immediately provides an opportunity for light–matter–light interactions that are in great demand by all-optical and quantum information processing. However, in most circumstances, those atoms must be prepared in gas phase, which requires optical cooling or vapor heating techniques combined with vacuum isolation, making it difficult for chip-scale integration, which are the major proposed applications.
Professor Wan’s team has theoretically and experimentally demonstrated a new scheme of an optically induced transparency in a compact micro-cavity in an ambient environment. Because the OIT relies only on the non-linearity and resonance properties of the medium, similar features should be ubiquitously expected among any other physical system with these characteristics. This system may offer a new avenue for a compact, integrated solution for all-optical processing and quantum information.