Nonlinear cascaded quantum network with giant emitters
Journal article, 2026

Chiral quantum optics is central to developing scalable quantum networks, yet existing approaches rely predominantly on linear single-photon regimes. It remains unclear how to generate directional multiphotons. Here we show that giant emitters coupled to nonlinear quantum optical baths enable tunable directional correlated photons, revealing a mechanism for multiphoton directional emission. We demonstrate that the propagation phases of correlated photons, together with the coupling phases of giant emitters, can generate destructive interference in one direction while enhancing emission in the opposite direction, making directionality fully tunable. Building on this mechanism, we introduce a nonlinear cascaded quantum network paradigm mediated by "correlated flying qubits", providing a configurable building block enabling distinct many-body applications beyond linear unidirectional setups. These results reveal a rich landscape for engineering multiphoton propagation and correlations through interference in giant emitter-nonlinear bath architectures, offering pathways for quantum networks and strongly correlated light-matter platforms.

Author

Xin Wang

Xi'an Jiaotong University

RIKEN

Jia-Qi Li

Xi'an Jiaotong University

Zhihai Wang

Northeast Normal University

Anton Frisk Kockum

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Applied Quantum Physics

Lei Du

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Applied Quantum Physics

Tao Liu

South China University of Technology

Franco Nori

RIKEN

University of Michigan

Communications Physics

23993650 (eISSN)

Vol. 9 1 205

Open Superconducting Quantum Computers (OpenSuperQPlus)

European Commission (EC) (EC/HE/101113946), 2023-03-01 -- 2026-08-31.

Giant atoms - a new regime in quantum optics

Swedish Research Council (VR) (2019-03696), 2020-01-01 -- 2023-12-31.

Quantum simulation and communication with giant atoms

Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) (FFL21-0279), 2022-08-01 -- 2027-12-31.

Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)

Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

Condensed Matter Physics

Other Physics Topics

DOI

10.1038/s42005-026-02618-3

Related datasets

Numerical Source Data for Manuscript "Nonlinear cascaded quantum network with giant emitters" [dataset]

URI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18409019

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