With recent developments of quantum technology, manipulations of the single-photon quantum state receive great attentions, because of its potential applications in the quantum information processing. In an atom—waveguide system, waveguide photon interact strongly with the atom, which provides the possibility for realizing photon—photon interaction.

LEFT: Schematics of a single-photon interacting with an atom driven by the external field inside the waveguide; RIGHT: Fundamental frequency transmission spectra of the single-photon quantum transport.

We study the single-photon transport in a waveguide, coupling with a V-type three-level atom driven by the external field. In the general case, the incident photon at certain frequency is coupled to both atomic transitions. Such an ultrastrong external field between two atomic excited states can induce the atomic virtual transitions, and the single-photon undergoes quantum interferences between different atomic transition paths. With breaking the rotating-wave approximation, one can obtain different frequency correlated single-photon states and single-photon frequency conversions in the quantum transport process, by changing the frequency of the input photon as well as the Rabi frequency of the driving field. Our proposal can achieve multiple functionalities in a built atom—waveguide experimental platform, which is essential for the engineering purpose for manipulating single photon in integrated photonics, and promotes the development of all-optically manipulating the single-photon quantum state.

The paper has been published in ACS Photonics with the title “Frequency Manipulations in Single-Photon Quantum Transport under Ultrastrong Driving”.

Link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsphotonics.0c00263