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New Journal of Physics

Photon transport through a nanohole by a moving atom

Anton E. Afanasiev, Павел Николаевич Мелентьев, A. A. Kuzin, A.Yu. Kalatskiy, V. I. Balykin

Published May 9, 2016• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have proposed and investigated for the first time an efficient way of photon transport through a subwavelength hole by a moving atom. The transfer mechanism is based on the reduction of the wave packet of a single photon due to its absorption by an atom and, correspondingly, its localization in a volume is smaller than both the radiation wavelength and the nanohole size. The scheme realizes the transformation of a single-photon single-mode wave packet of the laser light into a single-photon multimode wave packet in free space.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/18/5/053015

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We have proposed and investigated for the first time an efficient way of photon transport through a subwavelength hole by a moving atom. The transfer mechanism is based on the reduction of the wave packet of a single photon due to its absorption by an atom and, correspondingly, its localization in a volume is smaller than both the radiation wavelength and the nanohole size. The scheme realizes the transformation of a single-photon single-mode wave packet of the laser light into a single-photon multimode wave packet in free space.
The results of investigation of photon transport through the subwavelength hole in the opaque screen by using single neutral atom are represented. The basis of the proposed and implemented method is the absorption of a photon by a neutral atom immediately before the subwavelength aperture, traveling of the atoms through the hole and emission of a photon on the other side of the screen. Realized method is the alternative approach to existing for photon transport through a subwavelength aperture: 1) self-sustained transmittance of a photon through the aperture according to the Bethe’s model; 2) extra ordinary transmission because of surface-plasmon excitation.
The localization and transport of a photon through a subwavelength hole with the help of a neutral atom are studied. A method proposed and realized in the study is based on the absorption of a photon by a neutral atom directly in front of a subwavelength hole, the flight of the atom through the hole, and photon emission on the other side of the screen. The influence of the interaction of the excited atom flying through the subwavelength channel with the screen material is estimated. The estimate showed that the atomic excitation can be quenched in holes with diameters smaller than 200 nm, which affects the photon transport efficiency.
The results of investigation of photon transport through the subwavelength hole in the opaque screen by using single neutral atom are represented. The basis of the proposed and implemented method is the absorption of a photon by a neutral atom immediately before the subwavelength aperture, traveling of the atoms through the hole and emission of a photon on the other side of the screen. Realized method is the alternative approach to existing for photon transport through a subwavelength aperture: 1) self-sustained transmittance of a photon through the aperture according to the Bethe's model; 2) extra ordinary transmission because of surface-plasmon excitation.
Rapid advances in quantum technology have made possible the control of quantum states of elementary material quantum systems, such as atoms or molecules, and of the electromagnetic radiation field resulting from spontaneous photon emission of their unstable excited states to such a level of precision that subtle quantum electrodynamical phenomena have become observable experimentally. Recent developments in the area of quantum information processing demonstrate that characteristic quantum electrodynamical effects can even be exploited for practical purposes provided the relevant electromagnetic field modes are controlled by appropriate cavities. A central problem in this context is the realization of an ideal transfer of quantum information between a state of a material quantum system and a quantum state of the electromagnetic radiation field which contains a small number or even a single photon only. Despite much recent work in cavity quantum electrodynamics, which has explored this problem successfully in cases in which the number of accessible electromagnetic field modes is strongly restricted by a cavity, currently still much less is known about ideal quantum state transfer between matter and few-photon quantum states of the electromagnetic field in the extreme opposite case of free space. In this contribution we review recent work which explores characteristic quantum electrodynamical phenomena governing the interaction of a material quantum system with the electromagnetic field in extreme many-mode cases which are close to cavity-free situations. For this purpose the simplest possible quantum electrodynamical situation, namely the interaction of a single material two-level system with the wave packet of a single optical photon, is investigated in free space and in situations in which a large cavity modifies the mode structure of the electromagnetic field modes. It is demonstrated that perfect excitation of an atom by a properly shaped single-photon wave packet is possible even in free space. In particular, it is demonstrated that perfect excitation of an atom can be achieved by a single optical photon which is prepared initially in an appropriate superposition of plane-wave modes, provided this photon is focused subsequently onto the absorbing atom by a parabolic cavity.