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arXiv:physics/0501155

Observation of Single-Photon Switching

Yong‐Fan Chen, Zen-Hsiang Tsai, Yuchen Liu, Ite A. Yu

Published Jan 31, 2005• 0 citations
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Abstract

We report an experimental demonstration of single-photon switching in laser-cooled $^{87}$Rb atoms. A resonant probe pulse with an energy per unit area of one photon per $λ^2/2π$ propagates through the optically thick atoms. Its energy transmittance is greater than 63% or loss is less than $e^{-1}$ due to the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency. In the presence of a switching pulse with an energy per unit area of 1.4 photons per $λ^2/2π$, the energy transmittance of the same probe pulse becomes less than 37% or $e^{-1}$. This substantial reduction of the probe transmittance caused by single switching photons has potential applications in single-photon-level nonlinear optics and the manipulation of quantum information.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.physics/0501155

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We report an experimental demonstration of single-photon switching in laser-cooled 87^{87}87Rb atoms. A resonant probe pulse with an energy per unit area of one photon per λ2/2πλ^2/2πλ2/2π propagates through the optically thick atoms. Its energy transmittance is greater than 63% or loss is less than e−1e^{-1}e−1 due to the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency. In the presence of a switching pulse with an energy per unit area of 1.4 photons per λ2/2πλ^2/2πλ2/2π, the energy transmittance of the same probe pulse becomes less than 37% or e−1e^{-1}e−1. This substantial reduction of the probe transmittance caused by single switching photons has potential applications in single-photon-level nonlinear optics and the manipulation of quantum information.
We report an experimental demonstration of low-light-level photon switching by quantum interference in laser-cooled 87Rb atoms. A resonant probe pulse with an energy per unit area of one photon per lambda2/2pi propagates through the optically thick atoms. Its energy transmittance is greater than 63%, or a loss of less than e(-1), because of the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency. In the presence of a switching pulse with an energy per unit area of 1.4 photons per lambda2/2pi, the energy transmittance of the same probe pulse becomes less than 37%, or e(-1). This substantial reduction of probe transmittance caused by switching photons may lead to potential applications in single-photon-level nonlinear optics and manipulation of quantum information.
We propose an all-optical switch that utilizes the technique of storage and retrieval of light pulses. A single photon (probe pulse) switched by another (switching pulse) is feasible, and the on-off ratio can be as large as 10 dB. We have experimentally demonstrated that the energy of the retrieved probe pulse is reduced to about 10% because of the presence of a switching pulse with an energy per unit area of one photon per lambda(2)/(2pi). The achieved result does not depend on the coupling intensity, the atomic optical density, or the width and shape of the switching pulse.
We experimentally demonstrate the elementary case of electromagnetically induced transparency with a single atom inside an optical cavity probed by a weak field. We observe the modification of the dispersive and absorptive properties of the atom by changing the frequency of a control light field. Moreover, a strong cooling effect has been observed at two-photon resonance, increasing the storage time of our atoms twenty-fold to about 16 seconds. Our result points towards all-optical switching with single photons.
Summary form only given. A coupling laser can create electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in an absorbing medium such that linear absorption of a weak probe laser at the line center is suppressed by quantum interference. The quantum interference may be modified by adding a pump laser coupled to a separate state, which leads to enhanced third-order nonlinearities in the atomic system. Large nonlinear probe absorption at the EIT center is controlled by the pump laser and may be used to realize absorptive photon switching as proposed by Harris and Yamamoto. We report an experimental study of enhanced third-order nonlinear absorption and absorptive photon switching in /sup 87/Rb atoms cooled and confined in a magneto-optical trap.
Electromagnetically induced transparency in an optically thick, cold medium creates a unique system where pulse-propagation velocities may be orders of magnitude less than c and optical nonlinearities become exceedingly large. As a result, nonlinear processes may be efficient at low-light levels. Using an atomic system with three, independent channels, we demonstrate a quantum interference switch where a laser pulse with an energy per area of $\ensuremath{\sim}23$ photons per ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{2}/(2\ensuremath{\pi})$ causes a 1/e1/e1/e absorption of a second pulse.
We have experimentally and theoretically studied the scheme of all-optical switching based on stored light pulses. In the scheme, a probe pulse is stored in the medium by the effect of electromagnetically induced transparency and a switching pulse is applied during the storage in order to turn off the probe transmission in the retrieval process. Our study takes into account the attenuation of the switching pulse induced by the stored probe pulse. The consistency between the experimental data and the theoretical predictions from the numerical calculation is satisfactory. We further derive the analytical expressions of energy losses of the probe and switching pulses. The results from the analytical expressions are in good agreement with those from the numerical calculation. Using the analytical expressions, we investigated the switching efficiency with the consideration of the Gaussian beam profile of the photon pulses and explored the feasibility of switching a single photon by another.