On-demand single-photon state generation via nonlinear absorption

Abstract

We propose a method for producing on-demand single-photon states based on collision-induced exchanges of photons and unbalanced linear absorption between two single-mode light fields. These two effects result in an effective nonlinear absorption of photons in one of the modes, which can lead to single photon states. A quantum nonlinear attenuator based on such a mechanism can absorb photons in a normal input light pulse and terminate the absorption at a single-photon state. Because the output light pulses containing single photons preserve the properties of the input pulses, we expect this method to be a means for building a highly controllable single photon source.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in PRA. To be published in PR

Generators of nonclassical states by a combination of linear coupling of boson modes, Kerr nonlinearity, and strong linear losses

“…i.e. γ 2 /γ 3 ≈ q 2 ≪ 1, which is the condition for the single-photon state generation [18]. This scheme is similar to our previous proposal [19], considered in section III A, but involves just one nonlinear side mode.…”

“…When the linear and two-photon losses are absent (Γ = 0 and γ 2 = 0), the scheme described by Eq. ( 13) is able to generate the single-photon state from a large amplitude coherent input [18,19]. Indeed, the purity of the output state can be easily estimated.…”

“…However, designing similar reservoirs for photons is a much more challenging task, where even the theoretical schemes are mostly lacking. A notable exception is a couple of schemes proposed recently for generating of the phase states (|0 + e iφ |1 )/ √ 2 [15][16][17] and the single-photon states [18]. Alas, they still require the very specific nonlinear dissipation (for example, the third-order nonlinear absorption is needed for the scheme of Ref.…”

“…Alas, they still require the very specific nonlinear dissipation (for example, the third-order nonlinear absorption is needed for the scheme of Ref. [18]). Remarkably, in a recent work [19] we have shown that one can emulate the needed nonlinear absorption by a simple design based on the optical coupler.…”

Nonlinear Coherent Loss for Generating Non-classical States

“…It was shown that it is possible to produce a wide variety of nonlinear losses for vibrational states of ions in magnetic traps [11,12], or atoms in optical lattices [13]. Using a combination of optical nonlinearities, one can produce nonlinear losses of electromagnetic field modes [14][15][16][17]. Implementing correlated linear loss, one can also produce an effective nonlinear loss in Bose-Einstein condensates [18].…”