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arXiv:1506.00523 · Physical Review Letters

Zero-Area Single-Photon Pulses

L. S. Costanzo, A. S. Coelho, Daniele Pellegrino, Milrian S. Mendes, L. H. Acioli, K. N. Cassemiro, D. Felinto, Alessandro Zavatta, Marco Bellini

Published Jan 13, 2016• 26 citations
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Abstract

Broadband single photons are usually considered not to couple efficiently to atomic gases because of the large mismatch in bandwidth. Contrary to this intuitive picture, here we demonstrate that the interaction of ultrashort single photons with a dense resonant atomic sample deeply modifies the temporal shape of their wave packet mode without degrading their nonclassical character, and effectively generates zero-area single-photon pulses. This is a clear signature of strong transient coupling between single broadband (THz-level) light quanta and atoms, with intriguing fundamental implications and possible new applications to the storage of quantum information.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.116.023602

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Broadband single photons are usually considered not to couple efficiently to atomic gases because of the large mismatch in bandwidth. Contrary to this intuitive picture, here we demonstrate that the interaction of ultrashort single photons with a dense resonant atomic sample deeply modifies the temporal shape of their wave packet mode without degrading their nonclassical character, and effectively generates zero-area single-photon pulses. This is a clear signature of strong transient coupling between single broadband (THz-level) light quanta and atoms, with intriguing fundamental implications and possible new applications to the storage of quantum information.
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Selective multiphoton excitations can be achieved by tailoring the driving pulses to manipulate the outcome of the light-matter interaction. While single-photon transitions of single atoms driven by ultrashort pulses, dependent mainly on the resonant frequency component, and thus possesses no optical selectivity no matter how the excitation pulse shapes [1]. Interestingly, when an ultrashort pulse interacts with an optically dense medium, quantum controllable optical selectivity can be achieved in a single-photon process.