© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Terms Privacy Legal Notice

arXiv:1302.2897 · Physical Review A

Generation of single photons from an atom-cavity system

Martin Mücke, Joerg Bochmann, Carolin Hahn, Andreas Neuzner, Christian Nölleke, Andreas Reiserer, Gerhard Rempe, Stephan Ritter

Published Jun 4, 2013• 66 citations

Abstract

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 ${D}_{1}$ and ${D}_{2}$ 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.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.87.063805

Related papers

Single photons from a single atom trapped in a high-finesse optical cavity

M. Hijlkema

In this thesis a single atom is trapped in the mode of a high-finesse cavity and used to generate single photons in a controlled way. Starting from a magneto-optical trap, rubidium atoms are loaded into an optical dipole-force trap and transported to the cavity. On arrival the atoms are trapped in another trap with a standing wave geometry and excited by a pump laser incident perpendicular to the cavity axis. With the help of cavity cooling forces, a single atom could then be selected and trapped for up to a minute. A sequence of laser pulses is applied to induce the emission of a stream of single photons from the atom. Up to 300000 photons could be generated from the same atom in this way. The single-photon character of the source is verified within a few seconds after which the photons can be distributed to an independent user while monitoring the presence of the atom.

•Jul 1, 2007•0 citations

Cavity-assisted spontaneous emission of a single three-level atom as a single-photon source

M. Khanbekyan, Dirk‐Gunnar Welsch

Stimulated Raman interaction of a classically pumped single three-level $Λ$-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.

arXiv:0911.3746•Nov 19, 2009•0 citations

Deterministic Single-Photon Source for Distributed Quantum Networking

Axel Kuhn, Markus Hennrich, Gerhard Rempe

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.

arXiv:quant-ph/0204147•Physical Review Letters•Jul 19, 2002•859 citations

Deterministic Generation of Single Photons from One Atom Trapped in a Cavity

J. McKeever, Andreea Boca, A. David. Boozer +4 more

A single cesium atom trapped within the mode of an optical cavity is used to generate single photons on demand. The photon wave packets are emitted as a Gaussian beam with temporal profile and repetition rate controlled by external driving fields. Each generation attempt is inferred to succeed with a probability near unity, whereas the efficiency for creating an unpolarized photon in the total cavity output is 0.69 +/- 0.10, as limited by passive cavity losses. An average of 1.4 x 10(4) photons are produced by each trapped atom. These results constitute an important step in quantum information science, for example, toward the realization of distributed quantum networking.

Science•Mar 1, 2004•694 citations

Single photons made-to-measure

Genko S Vasilev, Daniel Ljunggren, Axel Kuhn

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.

arXiv:0907.0761•New Journal of Physics•Jun 14, 2010•83 citations

Single Photons Made-to-Measure

G. S. Vasilev, Daniel Ljunggren, Axel Kuhn

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.

•Aug 15, 2016•40 citations

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

{D}_{1}

and

{D}_{2}

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.

In this thesis a single atom is trapped in the mode of a high-finesse cavity and used to generate single photons in a controlled way. Starting from a magneto-optical trap, rubidium atoms are loaded into an optical dipole-force trap and transported to the cavity. On arrival the atoms are trapped in another trap with a standing wave geometry and excited by a pump laser incident perpendicular to the cavity axis. With the help of cavity cooling forces, a single atom could then be selected and trapped for up to a minute. A sequence of laser pulses is applied to induce the emission of a stream of single photons from the atom. Up to 300000 photons could be generated from the same atom in this way. The single-photon character of the source is verified within a few seconds after which the photons can be distributed to an independent user while monitoring the presence of the atom.

Stimulated Raman interaction of a classically pumped single three-level

Λ

-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 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.

A single cesium atom trapped within the mode of an optical cavity is used to generate single photons on demand. The photon wave packets are emitted as a Gaussian beam with temporal profile and repetition rate controlled by external driving fields. Each generation attempt is inferred to succeed with a probability near unity, whereas the efficiency for creating an unpolarized photon in the total cavity output is 0.69 +/- 0.10, as limited by passive cavity losses. An average of 1.4 x 10(4) photons are produced by each trapped atom. These results constitute an important step in quantum information science, for example, toward the realization of distributed quantum networking.

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.