Single-photon interference due to motion in an atomic collective excitation

Whiting, Daniel J.; Šibalić, Nikola; Keaveney, James; Adams, Charles S.; Hughes, Ifan G.

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate the generation of heralded bi-chromatic single photons from an atomic collective spin excitation (CSE). The photon arrival times display collective quantum beats, a novel interference effect resulting from the relative motion of atoms in the CSE. A combination of velocity-selective excitation with strong laser dressing and the addition of a magnetic field allows for exquisite control of this collective beat phenomenon. The present experiment uses a diamond scheme with near-IR photons that can be extended to include telecommunications-wavelengths or modified to allow storage and retrieval in an inverted-Y scheme.

Citation

Whiting, D. J., Šibalić, N., Keaveney, J., Adams, C. S., & Hughes, I. G. (2017). Single-photon interference due to motion in an atomic collective excitation. Physical Review Letters, 118(25), Article 253601. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.253601

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 23, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 22, 2017
• Publication Date: Jun 22, 2017
• Deposit Date: May 22, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: May 24, 2017
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Print ISSN: 0031-9007
• Electronic ISSN: 1079-7114
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 118
• Issue: 25
• Article Number: 253601
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.118.253601
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1378486
• Related Public URLs: https://arxiv.org/abs/1612.05467