Engineering atom-light interactions in 1D photonic crystals

Nano- and microscale optical systems offer efficient and scalable quantum interfaces through enhanced atom-field coupling in both resonators and continuous waveguides. Beyond these conventional topologies, new opportunities emerge from the integration of ultracold atomic systems with nanoscale photonic crystals. One-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides can be engineered for both stable trapping configurations and strong atom-photon interactions, as well as distributed quantum networks. Initial experiments have demonstrated a fractional waveguide coupling Γ_1D/Γ' = 0.32 ± 0.08, where Γ_1D (Γ') is the atomic emission rate into the guided (all other) mode(s).