title: Single-photon diode by exploiting the photon polarization in a waveguide.
abstract: A single-photon optical diode operates on individual photons and allows unidirectional propagation of photons. By exploiting the unique polarization configuration in a waveguide, we show here that a single-photon optical diode can be accomplished by coupling a quantum impurity to a passive, linear optical waveguide which possesses a locally planar, circular polarization. We further show that the diode provides a near unitary contrast for an input pulse with finite frequency bandwidth and can be implemented in a variety of types of waveguides. Moreover, the performance of the diode is not sensitive to the intrinsic dissipation of the quantum impurity.
authors: Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
authors: Yuecheng
authors: Y
authors: Shen
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Bradford
authors: Jung-Tsung
authors: JT
authors: Shen