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arXiv:0907.0761 · New Journal of Physics

Single photons made-to-measure

Genko S Vasilev, Daniel Ljunggren, Axel Kuhn

Published Jun 14, 2010• 83 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the efficiency of atom-cavity-based photon-generation schemes to deliver single photons of arbitrary temporal shape. Our model applies to Raman transitions in three-level atoms with one branch of the transition driven by a laser pulse and the other coupled to a cavity mode. For any possible shape of the single-photon wavepacket, we derive an unambiguous analytic expression for the shape of the required driving laser pulse. Furthermore, we discuss the constraints limiting the maximum probability for emitting any desired photon, and use these to estimate upper bounds for the efficiency of the process. The model is not only valid for vacuum-stimulated Raman adiabatic passages (V-STIRAP) in the strong-coupling and bad-cavity regime, but also generally allows the control of the coherence and population flow in any Raman process.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/12/6/063024

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We investigate the efficiency of atom-cavity-based photon-generation schemes to deliver single photons of arbitrary temporal shape. Our model applies to Raman transitions in three-level atoms with one branch of the transition driven by a laser pulse and the other coupled to a cavity mode. For any possible shape of the single-photon wavepacket, we derive an unambiguous analytic expression for the shape of the required driving laser pulse. Furthermore, we discuss the constraints limiting the maximum probability for emitting any desired photon, and use these to estimate upper bounds for the efficiency of the process. The model is not only valid for vacuum-stimulated Raman adiabatic passages (V-STIRAP) in the strong-coupling and bad-cavity regime, but also generally allows the control of the coherence and population flow in any Raman process.
We investigate the efficiency of atom-cavity based photon-generation schemes to deliver single photons of arbitrary temporal shape. Our model applies to Raman transitions in three-level atoms with one branch of the transition driven by a laser pulse, and the other coupled to a cavity mode. For any possible shape of the single-photon wavepacket, we derive an unambiguous analytic expression for the shape of the required driving laser pulse. We furthermore discuss the constraints limiting the maximum probability for emitting any desired photon, and use these to estimate upper bounds for the efficiency of the process. The model is not only valid for Vacuum-Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passages (V-STIRAP) in the strong-coupling and bad-cavity regime, but it generally allows controlling the coherence and population flow in any Raman process.
We show how to capture a single photon of arbitrary temporal shape with one atom coupled to an optical cavity. Our model applies to Raman transitions in three-level atoms with one branch of the transition controlled by a (classical) laser pulse, and the other coupled to the cavity. Photons impinging on the cavity normally exhibit partial reflection, transmission, and/or absorption by the atom. Only a control pulse of suitable temporal shape ensures impedance matching throughout the pulse, which is necessary for complete state mapping from photon to atom. For most possible photon shapes, we derive an unambiguous analytic expression for the shape of this control pulse, and we discuss how this relates to a quantum memory.
Taking the non-Markovian effect into account, we study how to store a single photon of arbitrary temporal shape in a single atom coupled to an optical cavity. Our model applies to Raman transitions in three-level atoms, with one branch of the transition controlled by a driving pulse, and the other coupled to the cavity. For any couplings of input field to the optical cavity and detunings of the atom from the driving pulse and cavity, we extend the input-output relation from Markovian to non-Markovian dynamics. For most possible photon shapes, we derive an analytic expression for the driving pulse in order to completely map the input photon into the atom. We find that the amplitude of the driving pulse depends only on the detuning of the atom from the frequency of the cavity, i.e., the detuning of the atom to the driving pulse has no effect on the strength of the driving pulse.
A sequence of single photons is emitted on demand from a single three-level atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse optical cavity. The photons are generated by an adiabatically driven stimulated Raman transition between two atomic ground states, with the vacuum field of the cavity stimulating one branch of the transition, and laser pulses deterministically driving the other branch. This process is unitary and therefore intrinsically reversible, which is essential for quantum communication and networking, and the photons should be appropriate for all-optical quantum information processing.
Stimulated Raman interaction of a classically pumped single three-level ΛΛΛ-type atom in a resonator cavity featuring both radiative and unwanted losses is studied. It is shown that in the regime of stimulated adiabatic Raman passage the excited outgoing wave packet of the cavity-assisted electromagnetic field can be prepared in a one-photon Fock state with high efficiency. In this regime, the spatio-temporal shape of the wave packet does not depend on the interaction shape of the pump field, provided that the interaction of the atom with the pump is time-delayed with respect to the interaction of the atom with the cavity-assisted field. Therefore, the scheme can be used to generate a sequence of identical radiation pulses each of almost one-photon Fock state. It is further shown that the spatio-temporal shape of the outgoing wave packet can be manipulated by controlling the time of interaction between the atom and the cavity-assisted electromagnetic field.
A single rubidium atom trapped within a high-finesse optical cavity is an efficient source of single photons. We theoretically and experimentally study single-photon generation using a vacuum stimulated Raman adiabatic passage. We experimentally achieve photon generation efficiencies of up to 34% and 56% on the D1{D}_{1}D1​ and D2{D}_{2}D2​ line, respectively. Output coupling with 89% results in record-high efficiencies for single photons in one spatiotemporally well-defined propagating mode. We demonstrate that the observed generation efficiencies are constant in a wide range of applied pump laser powers and virtual level detunings. This allows for independent control over the frequency and wave packet envelope of the photons without loss in efficiency. In combination with the long trapping time of the atom in the cavity, our system constitutes a significant advancement toward an on-demand, highly efficient single-photon source for quantum information processing tasks.