Coupling thermal atomic vapor to an integrated ring resonator
Strongly interacting atom cavity systems within a network with many nodes constitute a possible realization for a quantum internet which allows for quantum communication and computation on the same platform. To implement such large scale quantum networks, nanophotonic resonators are promising candidates because they can be scalably fabricated and interconnected with waveguides and optical fibers. By integrating arrays of ring resonators into a vapor cell we show that thermal rubidium atoms above room temperature can be coupled to photonic cavities as building blocks for chip scale hybrid circuits. Although strong coupling is not yet achieved in this first realization, our approach provides a key step towards miniaturization and scalability of atom cavity systems.