Abstract
A single cesium atom trapped within the mode of an optical cavity is used to generate single photons on demand. The photon wave packets are emitted as a Gaussian beam with temporal profile and repetition rate controlled by external driving fields. Each generation attempt is inferred to succeed with a probability near unity, whereas the efficiency for creating an unpolarized photon in the total cavity output is 0.69 ± 0.10, as limited by passive cavity losses. An average of 1.4 × 104 photons are produced by each trapped atom. These results constitute an important step in quantum information science, for example, toward the realization of distributed quantum networking.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1992-1994 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Science |
Volume | 303 |
Issue number | 5666 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 26 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General