CeNS Colloquium

Prof. Stephan Götzinger, MPI for the Science of Light Erlangen

Novel concepts aiming at an efficient processing of information require a strong and controlled coupling of single photons with single atomic quantum systems. In this talk I will first give an introduction into the efficient generation of single photons using planar dielectric antennas [1]. These antennas serve to direct the emission from a single emitter with >99% efficiency towards a collection optics and allows us to obtain intensity squeezed light from a single emitter quantum light source [2]. In the second part of the talk I will discuss our efforts towards the realization of quantum networks [3] and present experiments where photons and single solid state emitters strongly interact. A single molecule can amplify a weak laser beam and generate nonlinear effects like three-photon amplification and four-wave mixing [4, 5]. In order to achieve an even stronger interaction we have started to implement various approaches including waveguides, microcavities and plasmonic nanostructures.

[1] K. G. Lee, et al., A planar dielectric antenna for directional single-photon emission and near-unity collection efficiency, Nature Phot. 5, 166 (2011). [2] X.-L. Chu, et al., A high-fidelity photon gun: intensity-squeezed light from a single molecule, arXiv:1608.07980 [quant-ph], (2016). [3] Y. L. A. Rezus, et al., Single-Photon Spectroscopy of a Single Molecule, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 093601 (2012). [4] J. Hwang, et al., A single-molecule optical transistor, Nature 460, 76-80 (2009). [5] A. Maser, et al., Few-photon coherent nonlinear optics with a single molecule, Nature Photonics 10, 450-453 (2016).