Observing the dynamics of quantum states generated inside nonlinear optical cavities

Seou Choi (), Yannick Salamin (), Charles Roques-Carmes, Jamison Sloan, Michael Horodynski and Marin Soljačić
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Seou Choi: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yannick Salamin: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Charles Roques-Carmes: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jamison Sloan: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Michael Horodynski: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Marin Soljačić: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Observing non-classical properties of light is a long-standing interest to advance a wide range of quantum applications. Optical cavities are essential to generate and manipulate non-classical light. However, detecting changes in cavity properties induced by the quantum state remains a critical challenge in the optical domain due to the weak material nonlinearity. Here, we propose a framework for observing the dynamics of quantum states generated inside nonlinear optical cavities. We leverage the symmetry-breaking process of a bistable system, which is highly sensitive to the initial state, enabling detection of quantum state displacement through an asymmetric equilibrium of a macroscopic observable. With a nonlinear response at the single photon level, our approach directly imprints the cavity field distribution onto the statistics of bistable cavity steady-states. We experimentally demonstrate our approach in a degenerate optical parametric oscillator, generating and reconstructing different quantum states. As a validation, we reconstruct the Husimi Q function of the cavity squeezed vacuum state. In addition, we observe the evolution of the quantum vacuum state inside the cavity as it undergoes phase-sensitive amplification. By enabling generation and measurement of quantum states in a single nonlinear optical cavity, our method paves a way for studying exotic dynamics of quantum optical states in nonlinear driven-dissipative systems.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63035-8

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