Enhanced photon blockade via driving a trapped Λ -type atom in a hybrid optomechanical system

Abstract

A scheme is proposed to enhance the photon blockade effect in a hybrid optomechanical system with a $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$-type atom driven by the microwave. Through analyzing the conventional and unconventional blockade mechanisms, we find that the enhanced photon blockade effect can be attributed to two aspects: (i) The nonresonant coupled $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$-type atom reconstructs the anharmonic eigenenergy spectrum and (ii) the microwave driving field promotes the destructive quantum interference for two-photon excitation. By means of the joint enhancement effect, the perfect photon blockade, i.e., the second-order correlation function ${g}^{(2)}(0)\ensuremath{\simeq}0$, can be achieved without the strong single-photon optomechanical coupling as reported in the standard optomechanical system. All the analyses and derivations are further verified via simulating numerically the quantum master equation of the initial Hamiltonian, showing good agreement between analytical and numerical results. Moreover, the optimal parameter relation is given to optimize the photon blockade and maximize the occupancy probability of single-photon excitation at the same time. Our scheme provides a feasible method to engineer a high-quality and efficient single-photon source.