Superradiance in waveguide-coupled atomic ensembles

The power of the light emitted by a single, excited quantum emitter features a characteristic exponential decay. However, the presence of other, identical emitters can substantially alter the decay dynamics of the ensemble. Such collectively enhanced emission is termed superradiance, and has seen increased interest over the last decade due to its potential applications in quantum technology and metrology.

Typically, one has to place the emitters in close vicinity of each other in order to observe superradiance, which is both technically challenging and limits the number of atoms that contribute. Here, we couple up to 1000 atoms to an optical waveguide to realize superradiance, despite a macroscopic separation between the atoms. Moreover, one can use the optical properties of a waveguided mode to explore new regimes of collective radiation and many-body physics.