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Delayed single-photon self-interference

Mohan, R. K. ; Luo, B. and Kröll, Stefan LU (1998) In Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics) 58(6).
Abstract
It has been suggested that a single photon can interfere with itself even if the difference between the two paths in the interferometer is larger than the “length” of the photon [Kessel’ and Moiseev, JETP Lett. 58, 81 (1993)]. The interference is regained by detecting the photons using a photon-echo process, where the absorbing atoms will, effectively, act as narrow-band filters. Such an experiment has several unique features. For example, single photons are used to carry out what is generally regarded as a multiphoton process; the absorption of a single photon can be regarded as separated into two different moments in time; the fact that the single-photon interference is regained using atoms acting as narrow-band filters as the detector... (More)
It has been suggested that a single photon can interfere with itself even if the difference between the two paths in the interferometer is larger than the “length” of the photon [Kessel’ and Moiseev, JETP Lett. 58, 81 (1993)]. The interference is regained by detecting the photons using a photon-echo process, where the absorbing atoms will, effectively, act as narrow-band filters. Such an experiment has several unique features. For example, single photons are used to carry out what is generally regarded as a multiphoton process; the absorption of a single photon can be regarded as separated into two different moments in time; the fact that the single-photon interference is regained using atoms acting as narrow-band filters as the detector means that the control of the detection process is quite different from cases where electronic (or possibly photographic) detection is used to register the interference etc. In general, interference and absorption are combined and intertwined in the experiment, which is discussed in this paper, in a way that has not been done before. In the present paper the possibility to carry out such an experiment in practice is investigated in some detail. The signal strength is explicitly calculated and the results are compared with our experimental data for the case of many interfering photons. We imply that this result can readily be extrapolated to the single-photon situation. We analyze the material parameters that are important for carrying out the experiment and give specific examples of some suitable materials. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
DATA-STORAGE, TIME-DOMAIN, MOMENTS
in
Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)
volume
58
issue
6
article number
4348
publisher
American Physical Society
external identifiers
  • scopus:1142291089
ISSN
1050-2947
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevA.58.4348
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
eaa818e8-8bdc-4b39-be29-80c0dab92342 (old id 541434)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:21:40
date last changed
2023-02-24 11:29:47
@article{eaa818e8-8bdc-4b39-be29-80c0dab92342,
  abstract     = {{It has been suggested that a single photon can interfere with itself even if the difference between the two paths in the interferometer is larger than the “length” of the photon [Kessel’ and Moiseev, JETP Lett. 58, 81 (1993)]. The interference is regained by detecting the photons using a photon-echo process, where the absorbing atoms will, effectively, act as narrow-band filters. Such an experiment has several unique features. For example, single photons are used to carry out what is generally regarded as a multiphoton process; the absorption of a single photon can be regarded as separated into two different moments in time; the fact that the single-photon interference is regained using atoms acting as narrow-band filters as the detector means that the control of the detection process is quite different from cases where electronic (or possibly photographic) detection is used to register the interference etc. In general, interference and absorption are combined and intertwined in the experiment, which is discussed in this paper, in a way that has not been done before. In the present paper the possibility to carry out such an experiment in practice is investigated in some detail. The signal strength is explicitly calculated and the results are compared with our experimental data for the case of many interfering photons. We imply that this result can readily be extrapolated to the single-photon situation. We analyze the material parameters that are important for carrying out the experiment and give specific examples of some suitable materials.}},
  author       = {{Mohan, R. K. and Luo, B. and Kröll, Stefan}},
  issn         = {{1050-2947}},
  keywords     = {{DATA-STORAGE; TIME-DOMAIN; MOMENTS}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  series       = {{Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)}},
  title        = {{Delayed single-photon self-interference}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/2891764/2370418.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/PhysRevA.58.4348}},
  volume       = {{58}},
  year         = {{1998}},
}