2008/11/03 by Alexander Kubanek, A. Kubanek, Alexei Ourjoumtsev +9 · 1 citation
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Quantum Information and Cryptography #cond-mat.other #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.101.203602
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 203602 (2008) · PRL, 4 figures
arxiv created 2008/11/03 · openalex publication_date 2008/11/13 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Single atoms absorb and emit light from a resonant laser beam photon by photon. We show that a single atom strongly coupled to an optical cavity can absorb and emit resonant photons in pairs. The effect is observed in a photon correlation experiment on the light transmitted through the cavity. We find that the atom-cavity system transforms a random stream of input photons into a correlated stream of output photons, thereby acting as a two-photon gateway. The phenomenon has its origin in the quantum anharmonicity of the energy structure of the atom-cavity system. Future applications could include the controlled interaction of two photons by means of one atom.