Single Photon Absorption by a Single Quantum Emitter

2007/07/31 by D. Pinotsi, Dorothea Pinotsi, Ataç İmamoğlu +1 · 4 citations
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Absorption (acoustics) #Atomic physics #Common emitter #Dipole #Lambda #Laser #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Optics #Optoelectronics #Photon #Physics #Pulse (music) #Quantum #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum entanglement #Quantum mechanics #Quantum optics #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Qubit #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spontaneous emission #Voltage #quant-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.100.093603

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 9, 093603 (2008) · 4 pages, 4 figures

arxiv created 2008/01/21 · openalex publication_date 2008/03/07 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We show that a three-level lambda quantum emitter with equal spontaneous emission rates on both optically active transitions can absorb an incident single-photon pulse with a probability approaching unity, provided that the focused light profile matches that of the emitter dipole emission. Even with realistic focusing geometries, our results could find applications in long-distance entanglement of spin qubits.

Citations

• Input and output in damped quantum systems: Quantum stochastic differential equations and the master equation
• Electromagnetically induced transparency: Optics in coherent media
• Efficient coupling of photons to a single molecule and the observation of its resonance fluorescence
• Strong Extinction of a Laser Beam by a Single Molecule
• Atoms, dipole waves, and strongly focused light beams
• Long-distance quantum communication with atomic ensembles and linear optics

Cited by

• Controlled multi-photon subtraction with cascaded Rydberg superatoms as single-photon absorbers
• Ultra-High-Q Optical Microcavities
• Quantum efficiency of a single microwave photon detector based on a semiconductor double quantum dot
• Single microwave-photon detector using an artificial Λ-type three-level system