Hannover 2016 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 58: Poster: Quantum Optics and Photonics IV

Q 58.19: Poster

Thursday, March 3, 2016, 16:30–19:00, Empore Lichthof

Strong optical nonlinearity induced by weakly interacting ions — •Robert Johne and Thomas Pohl — Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Straße 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany

The generation of strong optical nonlinearities at smaller and smaller pump powers is a long-standing goal of technological and fundamental significance. The ultimate challenge is a single-photon nonlinearity, where a single light quantum is sufficient to drastically alter the system response for subsequent ones. Here we show that such a strong optical nonlinearity can be generated by weakly interacting ions placed in a cavity. In contrast to the conventional photon blockade based on the Jaynes-Cummings nonlinearity, the present system does not require ultrahigh quality cavities since the nonlinearity is induced by ion-ion interactions. We theoretically analyse in detail the system dynamics in dependence on various parameters and show that a strong nonlinear response is maintained although the ion-ion interaction strength is orders of magnitude smaller than all other parameters such as the cavity loss rate. The system holds great promise for advanced applications in quantum information processing e.g. single photon switches as well as for the deterministic generation of photon Fock states.