DOHA: Researchers from the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), a national research institute of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, have discovered new states of interaction between atoms and light.
When light and matter are strongly coupled, they lose their distinct character and merge into a hybrid state. Forty years ago it was predicted theoretically that if the strength of this coupling is increased beyond a certain point, the atoms would form a new state, an unusual molecular state in which the atoms would bind with the photons. Scientists have since debated if this was really possible under realistic conditions. This research has answered the question.
The research conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan, and the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) was published on October 10, in the high-impact journal - Nature Physics.
Understanding the interactions between atoms and light is important to QEERI’s research and development of new solar cells materials. In addition, this discovery may contribute to the development of quantum technologies in areas such as quantum communication, quantum simulation and computation, or quantum metrology.
The indispensable technologies in modern life such as a time system measured by an atomic clock, and a secure and energy-efficient communications system, are based on the fundamental science of the interaction between light and matter. The absorption and emission of light from any device is explained based on the interaction of light and atoms. A fundamental question as to how strong can the interaction of light and an atom be, has not been answered in spite of years of research.
Previously, Dr Sahel Ashhab, Senior Scientist, QEERI performed theoretical investigations and identified desirable conditions for achieving this new state using superconducting circuits. Recently, his collaborators at NICT carried out experiments using devices fabricated jointly at the facilities of NICT and NTT.
“Well-designed circuits can really go beyond what many people thought were unsurpassable limits,” said D. Ashhab, who provided the theoretical basis and interpretation of the experiments. “For technological applications, sometimes you want the strongest interactions possible. You want fast absorption and emission of light,” he said.
