Using numerical simulations, here, we demonstrate that a single sheet of graphene with properly designed inhomogeneous, nonuniform conductivity distributions can act as a convex lens for focusing and collimating the transverse-magnetic (TM) surface plasmon polariton (SPP) surface waves propagating along the graphene. Consequently, we show that the graphene can act as a platform for obtaining sp...

Quantum optics is the study of interaction between atoms and photons. In the eight papers of this thesis, we study a number of systems where artificial atoms (here, superconducting circuits emulating the level structure of an atom) enable us to either improve on known concepts or experiments from quantum optics with natural atoms, or to explore entirely new regimes which have not been possible ...

New paradigms for optical physics emerge from atoms trapped in one and two-dimensional dielectric waveguides [1,2]. Photons propagating in the guided modes of the waveguides can mediate long-range atom-atom interactions. In a complimentary fashion, photon-photon interactions can arise by way of the underlying lattice of atoms. This new future of atom nanophotonics has the potential to provide t...

Semi-evanescent and evanescent matter-waves produced by an atom wave packet impinging a repulsive barrier can be back-refracted and reconstructed by the application of negative-index “comoving” potential pulses. One shows that those collapses and revivals generate a matter wave confined on both sides of the barrier border (“surface matter wave”) and should be observable via the retardation of a...

Tailoring the interactions between quantum emitters and single photons constitutes one of the cornerstones of quantum optics. Coupling a quantum emitter to the band edge of a photonic crystal waveguide (PCW) provides a unique platform for tuning these interactions. In particular, the cross-over from propagating fields [Formula: see text] outside the bandgap to localized fields [Formula: see tex...

The development of nanotechnology and atom optics relies on understanding how atoms behave and interact with their environment. Isolated atoms can exhibit wavelike (coherent) behavior with a corresponding de Broglie wavelength and phase which can be affected by nearby surfaces. Here an atom interferometer is used to measure the phase shift of Na atom waves induced by the walls of a 50 nm wide c...

We report the production of matter-wave solitons in an ultra-cold Li gas. The effective interaction between atoms in a Bose-Einstein condensate is tuned with a Feshbach resonance from repulsive to attractive before release in a one-dimensional optical waveguide. Propagation of the soliton without dispersion over a macroscopic distance of 1.1 mm is observed. A simple theoretical model explains t...

A cloud of laser-cooled 85Rb atoms is coupled through a magnetic funnel into a miniature waveguide formed by four current-carrying wires embedded in a silica fiber. The atom cloud has a approximately 100 &mgr;m radius within the fiber and propagates over cm distances. We study the coupling, propagation, and transverse distribution of atoms in the fiber, and find good agreement with theory. This...

The development of the Raman atom laser promises to make available new techniques for accessing and manipulating the quantum statistical properties of Bose-Einstein condensates. In this work we show how, combined with the already existing methods for the manipulation of quantum states of light which are central to quantum optics, the Raman input-output coupling mechanisms potentially enable the...

We report on the atom optical manipulation of an atom laser beam. Reflection, focusing and its storage in a resonator are demonstrated. Precise and versatile mechanical control over an atom laser beam propagating in an inhomogeneous magnetic field is achieved by optically inducing spin-flips between atomic ground states with different magnetic moment. The magnetic force acting on the atoms can ...