Controlled single photon pulses from an ibn-cavity system

Axel Kuhn, Markus Hennrich, Torsten Bondo +1 more

Sungsam Kang, Sooin Lim, Myounggyu Hwang +3 more

We have demonstrated high-speed controlled generation of single photons in a coupled atom-cavity system. A single 85Rb atom, pumped with a nanosecond-pulse laser, generates a single photon into the cavity mode, and the photon is then emitted out the cavity rapidly. By employing cavity parameters for a moderate coupling regime, the single-photon emission process was optimized for both high efficiency and fast bit rates up to 10 MHz. The temporal single-photon wave packet was studied by means of the photon-arrival-time distribution relative to the pump pulse and the efficiency of the single-photon generation was investigated as the pump power. The single-photon nature of the emission was confirmed by the second-order correlation of emitted photons.

A. S. Parkins, Daniel F. Walls, Ataç İmamoğlu

Jerome Dilley, Peter B. R. Nisbet-Jones, Bruce W. Shore +1 more

We show how to capture a single photon of arbitrary temporal shape with one atom coupled to an optical cavity. Our model applies to Raman transitions in three-level atoms with one branch of the transition controlled by a (classical) laser pulse, and the other coupled to the cavity. Photons impinging on the cavity normally exhibit partial reflection, transmission, and/or absorption by the atom. Only a control pulse of suitable temporal shape ensures impedance matching throughout the pulse, which is necessary for complete state mapping from photon to atom. For most possible photon shapes, we derive an unambiguous analytic expression for the shape of this control pulse, and we discuss how this relates to a quantum memory.

Kazuki

Matthias Keller, Birgit Lange, Wolfgang Lange +2 more

A single 40Ca+-ion, localized in a high finesse optical cavity, is an ideal source of single photons, triggered by an external pump pulse. The photons are delivered with high effiency to a Gaussian output mode.