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Optics Letters

Achieving nonreciprocal unidirectional single-photon quantum transport using the photonic Aharonov–Bohm effect

Luqi Yuan, Shanshan Xu, Shanhui Fan

Published Oct 29, 2015• 59 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We show that nonreciprocal unidirectional single-photon quantum transport can be achieved with the photonic Aharonov-Bohm effect. The system consists of a 1D waveguide coupling to two three-level atoms of the V-type. The two atoms, in addition, are each driven by an external coherent field. We show that the phase of the external coherent field provides a gauge potential for the photon states. With a proper choice of the phase difference between the two coherent fields, the transport of a single photon can exhibit unity contrast in its transmissions for the two propagation directions.

DOI
10.1364/ol.40.005140

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We show that nonreciprocal unidirectional single-photon quantum transport can be achieved with the photonic Aharonov-Bohm effect. The system consists of a 1D waveguide coupling to two three-level atoms of the V-type. The two atoms, in addition, are each driven by an external coherent field. We show that the phase of the external coherent field provides a gauge potential for the photon states. With a proper choice of the phase difference between the two coherent fields, the transport of a single photon can exhibit unity contrast in its transmissions for the two propagation directions.
Single-photon devices such as switches, beam splitters, and circulators are fundamental components to construct photonic integrated quantum networks. In this paper, two V-type three-level atoms coupled to a waveguide are proposed to simultaneously realize these functions as a multifunctional and reconfigurable single-photon device. When both the two atoms are driven by the external coherent fields, the difference in the phases of the coherent driving induces the photonic Aharonov-Bohm effect. Based on the photonic Aharonov-Bohm effect and setting the two-atom distance to match the constructive or destructive interference conditions among photons travelling along different paths, a single-photon switch is achieved since the incident single photon can be controlled from complete transmission to complete reflection by adjusting the amplitudes and phases of the driving fields. When properly changing the amplitudes and phases of the driving fields, the incident photons are split equally into multiple components as a beam splitter operated with different frequencies. Meanwhile, the single-photon circulator with reconfigurable circulation directions can also be obtained.
Abstract We propose a potentially practical scheme for the controllable single-photon transport via waveguides which are coupled to a microcavity–emitter system. The microcavity–emitter system consists of a V-type three-level emitter and two or one single-mode microcavity. A driving field is used to drive a hyperfine transition between two upper excited states of the V-type three-level emitter. Beyond chiral coupling between waveguides and microcavity–emitter system, we show that the perfectly nonreciprocal single-photon transport in a single waveguide and the single-photon router with 100% routing probability in two waveguides can be achieved. Interesting enough, whether the nonreciprocal single-photon transport or the single-photon router can be switched periodically by adjusting the phase associated with microcavity–emitter coupling strength and the driving field. The complete physical explanation of the underlying mechanism is presented.
Single-photon transport in nonideal chiral photon-atom interaction structures generally contains information backflow and thus limits the capabilities to transfer information between distant emitters in cascaded quantum networks. Here, in the nonideal chiral case, a VVV-type atom coupled to a waveguide is proposed to realize completely unidirectional transmission of the single photons in a superposition state of different frequencies. A microwave field is introduced to drive the two excited states of the atom and results in photon conversion between two transitions. By adjusting the Rabi frequency and the phase of the external driving field, the transport behaviors of incident photons with specific frequencies can be optimized to complete transmission or reflection. Based on the constructive interferences between photons from different traveling paths, the transmission probabilities of the specific-frequency photons could be enhanced. Due to photon conversions with compensating the dissipations and ensuring the complete destructive interference, the ideal unidirectional transmission contrast can be maintained to $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$, even when the atom has dissipations into the nonwaveguide modes.
Abstract We investigate the single-photon transport properties in a hybrid waveguide quantum electrodynamics system, in which a one-dimensional waveguide is simultaneously coupled to a cavity and a driven Λ-type three-level atom. The cavity and the atom are also coupled to each other. We show that when the waveguide is coupled to the cavity and the atom at the same point, double electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) can be observed from the system. The physical mechanism of the double EIT effect has been given by setting up the eigenstate structure for the whole system. When the waveguide is coupled to the cavity and the atom at different points, we demonstrate that the single-photon transmission spectra can be effectively controlled by adjusting the relative separation between the cavity and the atom. Moreover, this non-zero relative separation can lead to the occurrence of the controllable nonreciprocal scattering effect. These results have potential applications in realization of photonic coherent control.
We investigate the controllable single-photon transport via a microresonator coupled to two meandering waveguides at multiple coupling points. Using the analytical expressions of the single-photon scattering amplitudes obtained by the real-space Hamiltonian, the transport characteristics in the waveguide system are demonstrated. These results show that the perfectly nonreciprocal transmission in a single waveguide and the directional routing approaching the unity probability in two waveguides can be achieved by adjusting the resonator-waveguide coupling related to the phase parameter, arising from the phase-dependent interference effect of the multiple point couplings of the resonator. Our proposal may have wide potentials in quantum information processing.
All-optical manipulation of a single-photon quantum transport is of fundamental importance in quantum nanophotonics. Here, a system consisting of a single-mode waveguide coupling with a V-type three-level atom is proposed, where two excited states of the atom are strongly driven by the external coherent field. Transmission and reflection spectra for the output photon at different frequency components, including virtual transitions induced by the ultrastrong driving, are calculated. The interaction between the waveguide photon and the driven atom experiences quantum interferences, which leads to a variety of capabilities for manipulating the single-photon transport in the spectral domain. We perform simulations to demonstrate the possibilities of achieving desired frequency conversions as well as generating different correlated single-photon states by using external drive field at chosen strength. Our work therefore studies the single-photon transport in a strongly driven atom–waveguide system and shows applications for all-optically manipulating the single photon in the field of quantum information processing.