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Quantum optics

Single-atom transistor for light

Nature volume 465, pages 699–700 (2010)Cite this article

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A subtle quantum-interference effect has been used to control the optical response of a single atom confined in a cavity. It could offer a means to develop logic gates for an optical quantum computer.

In a nonlinear optical medium, the electric polarization induced by an incident light beam (or beams) exhibits a nonlinear dependence on the light's electric field. This nonlinearity, which can give rise to optical effects such as harmonic generation, or an intensity-dependent refractive index (the optical Kerr effect), is typically very small and limited in usefulness by absorption of the beam when the frequency of light is too close to an atomic resonance in the medium. Consequently, nonlinear optical effects are generally associated with bulk media and high-intensity light fields far from resonance with atomic transitions. However, in recent years, there has been a significant trend in experimental quantum optics towards nonlinear optical effects at progressively lower intensity levels, with the ultimate goal being the realization of large interactions and conditional dynamics between light fields at the level of individual light quanta — that is, between single photons. This would enable the operation of quantum logic gates with single photons — the building blocks of an optical quantum computer.

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  1. Scott Parkins is in the Department of Physics, University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. s.parkins@auckland.ac.nz,

    Scott Parkins

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  1. Scott Parkins
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Parkins, S. Single-atom transistor for light. Nature 465, 699–700 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/465699a

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