Coherently driving a single quantum two-level system with dichromatic laser pulses
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Date
15/07/2019Author
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Abstract
The excitation of individual two-level quantum systems using an electromagnetic field is an elementary tool of quantum optics, with widespread applications across quantum technologies. The efficient excitation of a single two-level system usually requires the driving field to be at the same frequency as the transition between the two quantum levels. However, in solid-state implementations, the scattered laser light can dominate over the single photons emitted by the two-level system, imposing a challenge for single-photon sources. Here, we propose a background-free method for the coherent excitation and control of a two-level quantum system using a phase-locked dichromatic electromagnetic field with no spectral overlap with the optical transition. We demonstrate this method experimentally by stimulating single-photon emission from a single quantum dot embedded in a micropillar, reaching single-photon purity of 0.988(1) and indistinguishability of 0.962(6). The phase-coherent nature of our two-colour excitation scheme is demonstrated by the dependence of the resonance fluorescence intensity on the relative phase between the two pulses. Our two-colour excitation method represents an additional and useful tool for the study of atom–photon interaction, and the generation of spectrally isolated indistinguishable single photons.
Citation
He , Y-M , Wang , H , Wang , C , Chen , M-C , Ding , X , Qin , J , Duan , Z-C , Chen , S , Li , J-P , Liu , R-Z , Schneider , C , Atatüre , M , Hoefling , S , Lu , C-Y & Pan , J-W 2019 , ' Coherently driving a single quantum two-level system with dichromatic laser pulses ' , Nature Physics . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0585-6
Publication
Nature Physics
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1745-2473Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher's policies. This is the author created accepted version manuscript following peer review and as such may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-019-0585-6
Description
Funding: M.A. is supported by an ERC Consolidator Grant PHOENICS (no. 617985), and the EPSRC Quantum Technology Hub NQIT (EP/M013243/1).Collections
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