Maximal atom–photon entanglement in a double- $$\Lambda $$ Λ quantum system

Abstract

The atom---photon entanglement of a dressed atom and its spontaneous emission in a double-$$\Lambda $$? closed-loop atomic system is studied under multi-photon resonance condition. It is shown that even in the absence of quantum interference due to the spontaneous emission, the von Neumann entropy is phase-sensitive and it can be controlled by either intensity or relative phase of the applied fields. It is demonstrated that for the special case of Rabi frequency of the applied fields, the system is maximally entangled. Moreover, an open-loop configuration is considered, and it is shown that the degree of entanglement can be controlled by intensity of the applied fields. Furthermore, in electromagnetically induced transparency condition, the system is disentangled. Such a system can be used for quantum information processing via entanglement using optical switching.