Quantum state-controlled directional spontaneous emission of photons into a nanophotonic waveguide

The spin of light in subwavelength-diameter waveguides can be orthogonal to the propagation direction of the photons because of the strong transverse confinement. This transverse spin changes sign when the direction of propagation is reversed. Using this effect, we demonstrate the directional spontaneous emission of photons by laser-trapped caesium atoms into an optical nanofibre and control their propagation direction by the excited state of the atomic emitters. In particular, we tune the spontaneous emission into the counter-propagating guided modes from symmetric to strongly asymmetric, where more than [Image: see text]% of the optical power is launched into one or the other direction. We expect our results to have important implications for research in quantum nanophotonics and for implementations of integrated optical signal processing in the quantum regime.