Cavity Induced Interfacing of Atoms and Light

TL;DR

This paper reviews cavity-based quantum interfaces involving single atoms or ions, focusing on photon generation, atom-photon entanglement, quantum memory, and photon characterization within linear optics setups.

Contribution

It introduces methods for deterministic photon generation, atom-photon entanglement, and quantum memory using cavity systems, advancing quantum information processing capabilities.

Findings

Deterministic generation of indistinguishable single photons

Establishment of atom-photon entanglement

Implementation of quantum memory via time-reversal of emission

Abstract

This chapter introduces cavity-based light-matter quantum interfaces, with a single atom or ion in strong coupling to a high-finesse optical cavity. We discuss the deterministic generation of indistinguishable single photons from these systems; the atom-photon entanglement intractably linked to this process; and the information encoding using spatio-temporal modes within these photons. Furthermore, we show how to establish a time-reversal of the aforementioned emission process to use a coupled atom-cavity system as a quantum memory. Along the line, we also discuss the performance and characterisation of cavity photons in elementary linear-optics arrangements with single beam splitters for quantum-homodyne measurements.