Author: ["Markus Hijlkema","Bernhard Weber","Holger P. Specht","Simon C. Webster","Axel Kuhn","Gerhard Rempe"]
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Abstract
Neutral atoms are ideal objects for the deterministic processing of quantum information. Entanglement operations have been carried out by photon exchange1 or controlled collisions2, and atom–photon interfaces have been realized with single atoms in free space3,4 or strongly coupled to an optical cavity5,6. A long-standing challenge with neutral atoms, however, is to overcome the limited observation time. Without exception, quantum effects appeared only after ensemble averaging. Here, we report on a single-photon source with one, and only one, atom quasi-permanently coupled to a high-finesse cavity. ‘Quasi-permanent’ refers to our ability to keep the atom long enough to, first, quantify the photon-emission statistics and, second, guarantee the subsequent performance as a single-photon server delivering up to 300,000 photons for up to 30 s. This is achieved by a unique combination of single-photon generation and atom cooling7,8,9. Our scheme brings deterministic protocols of quantum information science with light and matter10,11,12,13,14,15,16 closer to realization.Cite this article
Hijlkema, M., Weber, B., Specht, H. et al. A single-photon server with just one atom. Nature Phys 3, 253–255 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys569 