Article abstract
Nature Physics 3, 807 - 812 (2007)
Published online: 26 August 2007 | doi:10.1038/nphys708
Subject Categories: Electronics, photonics and device physics | Optical physics
A single-photon transistor using nanoscale surface plasmons
Darrick E. Chang1, Anders S. Sørensen2, Eugene A. Demler1 & Mikhail D. Lukin1
Abstract
Photons rarely interact—which makes it challenging to build all-optical devices in which one light signal controls another. Even in nonlinear optical media, in which two beams can interact because of their influence on the medium's refractive index, this interaction is weak at low light levels. Here, we propose a novel approach to realizing strong nonlinear interactions at the single-photon level, by exploiting the strong coupling between individual optical emitters and propagating surface plasmons confined to a conducting nanowire. We show that this system can act as a nonlinear two-photon switch for incident photons propagating along the nanowire, which can be coherently controlled using conventional quantum-optical techniques. Furthermore, we discuss how the interaction can be tailored to create a single-photon transistor, where the presence (or absence) of a single incident photon in a 'gate' field is sufficient to allow (or prevent) the propagation of subsequent 'signal' photons along the wire.
- Physics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
- QUANTOP, Danish Quantum Optics Center and Niels Bohr Institute, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Correspondence to: Mikhail D. Lukin1 e-mail: lukin@physics.harvard.edu
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Nano-optics Quantum light switchNature Physics News and Views (01 Nov 2007)
Quantum optics A brighter source of single photonsNature Photonics News and Views (01 Dec 2007)
See all 7 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Functional expression and germline atransmission of a human chromosome fragment in chimaeric miceNature Genetics Article (01 Jun 1997)
Donor deactivation in silicon nanostructuresNature Nanotechnology Letter (01 Feb 2009)
See all 55 matches for Research
