title: Single-photon spectroscopy of a single molecule.
abstract: Efficient interaction of light and matter at the ultimate limit of single photons and single emitters is of great interest from a fundamental point of view and for emerging applications in quantum engineering. However, the difficulty of generating single-photon streams with specific wavelengths, bandwidths, and power as well as the weak interaction probability of a single photon with an optical emitter pose a formidable challenge toward this goal. Here, we demonstrate a general approach based on the creation of single photons from a single emitter and their use for performing spectroscopy on a second emitter situated at a distance. While this first proof of principle realization uses organic molecules as emitters, the scheme is readily extendable to quantum dots and color centers. Our work ushers in a new line of experiments that provide access to the coherent and nonlinear couplings of few emitters and few propagating photons.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Y L A
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Rezus
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Walt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lettow
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Renn
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zumofen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Götzinger
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sandoghdar