title: Artificial atoms can do more than atoms: deterministic single photon subtraction from arbitrary light fields.
abstract: We study the interplay of photons interacting with an artificial atom in the presence of a controlled dephasing. Such artificial atoms consisting of several independent scatterers can exhibit remarkable properties superior to single atoms with a prominent example being a superatom based on Rydberg blockade. We demonstrate that the induced dephasing allows for the controlled absorption of a single photon from an arbitrary incoming probe field. This unique tool in photon-matter interaction opens a way for building novel quantum devices, and several potential applications such as a single photon transistor, high fidelity n-photon counters, or the creation of nonclassical states of light by photon subtraction are presented.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Theoretical Physics III, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Honer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Löw
authors.forename: Hendrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weimer
authors.forename: Tilman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pfau
authors.forename: Hans Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Büchler