Physical Review A

Single-photon all-optical switching using waveguide-cavity quantum electrodynamics

Peter A. Bermel, Alejandro W. Rodríguez, Steven G. Johnson, John D. Joannopoulos, Marin Soljacic A

Published Oct 24, 2006• 137 citations

Abstract

This paper demonstrates switching of a single signal photon by a single gating photon of a different frequency, via a cross-phase-modulation. This effect is mediated by materials exhibiting electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), which are embedded in photonic crystals (PhCs). An analytical model based on waveguide-cavity QED is constructed for our system, which consists of a PhC waveguide and a PhC microcavity containing a four-level EIT atom. It is solved exactly and analyzed using experimentally accessible parameters. It is found that the strong coupling regime is required for lossless two-photon quantum entanglement.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.74.043818

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