Single Atom and Single Photon Experiments

Gerhard Rempe, Wolfgang P. Schleich, Marlan O. Scully +1 more

Gerhard Rempe, W. P. Schleich, Marlan O. Scully +1 more

M. Hijlkema, B. Weber, Holger Specht +3 more

In this paper, we present an experiment in which a single neutral atom trapped in a cavity is used to generate single photons in a controlled way. The quality of these photons is such that they could be used for quantum information processing. Our setup could therefore operate as a single-photon server for such experiments. We prepare our system by loading85Rb atoms into a magneto-optical trap. From here, the atoms are transported by a dipole trap into the cavity.

S. Haroche

M. Hijlkema, B. Weber, Holger Specht +3 more

In this paper, we present an experiment in which a single neutral atom trapped in a cavity is used to generate single photons in a controlled way. The quality of these photons is such that they could be used for quantum information processing. Our setup could therefore operate as a single-photon server for such experiments. We prepare our system by loading85Rb atoms into a magneto-optical trap. From here, the atoms are transported by a dipole trap into the cavity.

Deshui Yu

Precisely controlling the atom number challenges the single-photon generation based on an individual neutral atom in experiments. A straightforward solution is to directly produce single photons via a number of atoms. We theoretically investigate such a single-photon emitter in which a bunch of Sr atoms are tightly confined in a blue-detuned optical lattice and weakly driven by an external field. The strong long-range interatomic interactions inducing large excitation-energy shifts results in a significant suppression of multiphoton emission. We consider two common approaches, which are widely used in experiments to generate single photons, in detail. The results indicate a potential to built up a single-photon source based on an ensemble of interacting atoms.