Abstract
During the last decades the development of laser cooling and trapping has revolutionized the field of quantum optics. Now we master techniques to control the quantum properties of atoms and light, even at a single atom and single photon level. Understanding and controlling interactions of atoms and light both on the microscopic single particle and on the macroscopic collective levels, are two of the very active directions of the current research in this field. The goal is to engineer quantum systems with tailored properties designed for specific applications. One of the ambitious applications on this way is interfacing quantum information for quantum communication and quantum computing. We summarize here theoretical ideas and experimental methods for interfacing atom-based quantum memories with single flying photons.
Highlights
Single quantum objects such as atoms and photons have played an outstanding role in understanding the fundamental concepts of quantum world
We theoretically formulated the problem of efficiently interfacing single free space atoms and single photons
The first main challenge arises from the fact that the natural single atom emission pattern has a dipolar spatial dependence, whereas the propagating in space photons is in a Gaussian mode
Summary
Single quantum objects such as atoms and photons have played an outstanding role in understanding the fundamental concepts of quantum world. Single atoms exhibit favorable properties for storing and processing quantum information Their states, carrying qubits, can be well isolated from the environment, making them a good candidate for quantum memories [4]. The atomic sample is free in space, but the collective interaction of all atoms with the available spatial vacuum modes sets the emission directionality. It is the aim of this paper to describe the state-of-theart in the interfacing single photons with free space single atoms and engineered atom-like systems “superatoms” both from the theoretical and the experimental perspectives.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
