Single Photons Made-to-Measure

TL;DR

This paper presents an analytic method to generate single photons with arbitrary temporal shapes using atom-cavity systems, optimizing efficiency and control in quantum photon sources.

Contribution

It derives explicit formulas for the laser pulse shape needed for any photon waveform in Raman-based atom-cavity systems, expanding control over photon emission.

Findings

Analytic expressions for laser pulses for arbitrary photon shapes

Upper bounds on emission efficiency based on system constraints

Applicable to various Raman processes beyond V-STIRAP

Abstract

We investigate the efficiency of atom-cavity based photon-generation schemes to deliver single photons of arbitrary temporal shape. Our model applies to Raman transitions in three-level atoms with one branch of the transition driven by a laser pulse, and the other coupled to a cavity mode. For any possible shape of the single-photon wavepacket, we derive an unambiguous analytic expression for the shape of the required driving laser pulse. We furthermore discuss the constraints limiting the maximum probability for emitting any desired photon, and use these to estimate upper bounds for the efficiency of the process. The model is not only valid for Vacuum-Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passages (V-STIRAP) in the strong-coupling and bad-cavity regime, but it generally allows controlling the coherence and population flow in any Raman process.