SUPER excitation of quantum emitters is a multi-photon process

Area of Science:

• Quantum Optics
• Quantum Information Science
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

Background:

• The swing-up of quantum emitter population (SUPER) scheme efficiently prepares quantum emitters in their excited state.
• This scheme is valuable for on-demand single-photon sources and laser spectral filtering.
• A clear physical understanding of the energy exchange in the SUPER scheme is currently lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a fully quantized model of the SUPER scheme.
• To elucidate the underlying physical mechanism of the excitation process.
• To investigate the energy exchange between the electromagnetic field and the quantum emitter.

Main Methods:

• Development of a fully quantized theoretical model for the SUPER scheme.
• Analysis of the quantum mechanical interactions between the emitter and multiple laser field modes.
• Investigation of photon exchange dynamics between field modes.

Main Results:

• The SUPER scheme is demonstrated to be a multi-photon process.
• One field mode is shown to lose two or more photons, while another gains at least one.
• A novel non-linear interaction between single emitters and multiple field modes is identified.

Conclusions:

• The physical interpretation of the SUPER scheme is revealed as a multi-photon energy exchange process.
• This work provides new insights into light-matter interactions at the quantum level.
• The findings open avenues for exploring new quantum optical phenomena and applications.