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Frontiers of Physics

Unconventional photon blockade induced by the self-Kerr and cross-Kerr nonlinearities

Ling-Juan Feng, Yan Li, Shangqing Gong

Published Nov 5, 2022• 16 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We study the use of the self-Kerr and cross-Kerr nonlinearities to realize strong photon blockade in a weakly driven, four-mode optomechanical system. According to the Born—Oppenheimer approximation, we obtain the cavity self-Kerr coupling and the inter-cavity cross-Kerr coupling, adiabatically separated from the mechanical oscillator. Through minimizing the second-order correlation function, we find out the optimal parameter conditions for the unconventional photon blockade. Under the optimal conditions, the strong photon blockade can appear in the strong or weak nonlinearities.

DOI
10.1007/s11467-022-1213-y

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We study the use of the self-Kerr and cross-Kerr nonlinearities to realize strong photon blockade in a weakly driven, four-mode optomechanical system. According to the Born—Oppenheimer approximation, we obtain the cavity self-Kerr coupling and the inter-cavity cross-Kerr coupling, adiabatically separated from the mechanical oscillator. Through minimizing the second-order correlation function, we find out the optimal parameter conditions for the unconventional photon blockade. Under the optimal conditions, the strong photon blockade can appear in the strong or weak nonlinearities.
The photon blockade based on weak nonlinearities is called the unconventional photon blockade. The study of the unconventional photon blockade in recent decades has mainly focused on the ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ Kerr nonlinearity. In this paper, we study the photon blockade in two weakly coupled nonlinear cavities via ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ nonlinearity, where ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ mediates the conversion of a single photon in the cavity with high frequency into two photons with low frequency in another cavity. When the two cavity modes are driven simultaneously, our calculations show that the strong photon antibunching can be obtained in the cavity. The optimal condition for strong antibunching is found by analytic calculations and numerical simulations, and discussions of the optimal condition are presented. The differences between the present scheme and that with ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(3)}$ nonlinearity are discussed. This scheme is not sensitive to the change of decay rates, which makes the experimental realization easy.
Abstract Photon statistics in a weakly driven optomechanical cavity, with Kerr-type nonlinearity, are analyzed both analytically and numerically. The single-photon blockade effect is demonstrated via calculations of the zero-time-delay second-order correlation function g (2) (0). The analytical results obtained by solving the Schrödinger equation are in complete conformity with the results obtained through numerical solution of the quantum master equation. A systematic study on the parameter regime for observing photon blockade in the weak coupling regime is reported. The parameter regime where the photon blockade is not realizable due to the combined effect of nonlinearities owing to the optomechanical coupling and the Kerr-effect is demonstrated. The experimental feasibility with state-of-the-art device parameters is discussed and it is observed that photon blockade could be generated at the telecommunication wavelength. An elaborate analysis of the thermal effects on photon antibunching is presented. The system is found to be robust against pure dephasing-induced decoherences and thermal phonon number fluctuations.
We analyze the photon correlations in an optomechanical system containing two nonlinear optical modes and one mechanical mode which are coupled via a three-mode mixing. Under a weak driving condition, we determine the optimal conditions for photon antibunching in the weak-Kerr-nonlinear regime and find that the analytical calculations are consistent with the numerical results. The photon blockade effect is attributed to destructive quantum interference in the two-photon excitation pathways created as a result of the three-mode interaction.
Abstract We explore the photon blockade in optomechanical systems with a position-modulated Kerr-type nonlinear coupling, i.e. H i n t ∼ a ^ † 2 a ^ 2 ( b ^ 1 † + b ^ 1 ) . We find that the Kerr-type nonlinear coupling can enhance the photon blockade greatly. We evaluate the equal-time second-order correlation function of the cavity photons and find that the optimal photon blockade does not happen at the single photon resonance. By working within the few-photon subspace, we get an approximate analytical expression for the correlation function and the condition for the optimal photon blockade. We also find that the photon blockade effect is not always enhanced as the Kerr-type nonlinear coupling strength g 2 increases. At some values of g 2 , the photon blockade is even weakened. For the system we considered here, the second-order correlation function can be smaller than 1 even in the unresolved sideband regime. By numerically simulating the master equation of the system, we also find that the thermal noise of the mechanical environment can enhance the photon blockade. We give out an explanation for this counter-intuitive phenomenon qualitatively.
This study systematically investigates unconventional photon blockade in two coupled Kerr nonlinear cavities at resonance. By solving the master equation in the steady-state limit and calculating the equal-time second-order correlation function, the photon antibunching effect within the nonlinear regime is revealed. Through analytical derivations, four sets of optimal antibunching conditions are obtained and validated through numerical simulations, unveiling new characteristics of photon blockade. Furthermore, the influence of system parameters on photon blockade is discussed, providing valuable theoretical support for optimizing the design and implementation of single-photon sources.