Modulation of single-photon-level wave packets with two-component electromagnetically induced transparency

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the controllable splitting and modulation of single-photon wave packets using a tripod atomic medium with two control beams, enabling advanced quantum communication techniques.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for manipulating single-photon pulses through two control beams in a tripod atomic system, allowing for pulse splitting and interference control.

Findings

Single-photon wave packets can be split into two temporal modes.

Frequency detuning controls interference patterns of retrieved signals.

The method enables pulse modulation and multi-splitting of quantum signals.

Abstract

Coherent manipulation of single-photon wave packets is essentially important for optical quantum communication and quantum information processing. In this paper, we realize controllable splitting and modulation of single-photon-level pulses by using a tripod-type atomic medium. The adoption of two control beams enable us to store one signal pulse into superposition of two distinct atomic collective excitations. By controlling the time delay between the two control pulses, we observe splitting of a stored wave packet into two temporally-distinct modes. By controlling the frequency detuning of the control beams, we observe both temporal and frequency-domain interference of the retrieval signal pulses, which provides a method for pulse modulation and multi-splitting of the signal photons.