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arXiv · 0911.3868

Ultra-bright omni-directional collective emission of correlated photon pairs from atomic vapors

Y. P. Huang·M. G. Moore
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Abstract

Spontaneous four-wave mixing can generate highly correlated photon pairs from atomic vapors. We show that multi-photon pumping of dipole-forbidden transitions in a recoil-free geometry can result in ultra-bright pair-emission in the full 4πsolid angle, while strongly suppresses background Rayleigh scattering and associated atomic heating, Such a system can produce photon pairs at rates of ~ 10 ^12 per second, given only moderate optical depths of 10 ~ 100, or alternatively, the system can generate paired photons with sub-natural bandwidths at lower production rates. We derive a rate-equation based theory of the collective atomic population and coherence dynamics, and present numerical simulations for a toy model, as well as realistic model systems based on 133 Cs and 171 Yb level structures. Lastly, we demonstrate that dark-state adiabatic following (EIT) and/or timescale hierarchy protects the paired photons from reabsorption as they propagate through an optically thick sample.

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Y. P. Huang, M. G. Moore. 2009-11-19. Ultra-bright omni-directional collective emission of correlated photon pairs from atomic vapors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.81.033807

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