Efficient retrieval of a single excitation stored in an atomic ensemble.
We report significant improvements in the retrieval efficiency of a single excitation stored in an atomic ensemble and in the subsequent generation of strongly correlated pairs of photons. A 50% probability of transforming the stored excitation into one photon in a well-defined spatio-temporal mode at the output of the ensemble is demonstrated. These improvements are illustrated by the generation of high-quality heralded single photons with a suppression of the two-photon component below 1% of the value for a coherent state. A broad characterization of our system is performed for different parameters in order to provide input for the future design of realistic quantum networks.
Laurat
Julien
J
de Riedmatten
Hugues
H
Felinto
Daniel
D
Chou
Chin-Wen
CW
Schomburg
Erik W
EW
Kimble
H Jeff
HJ