Pulsed Rabi oscillations in quantum two-level systems: beyond the Area Theorem
Abstract
The Area Theorem states that when a short optical pulse drives a quantum two-level system, it undergoes Rabi oscillations in the probability of scattering a single photon. In this work, we investigate the breakdown of the Area Theorem as both the pulse length becomes non-negligible and for certain pulse areas. Using simple quantum trajectories, we provide an analytic approximation to the photon emission dynamics of a two-level system. Our model provides an intuitive way to understand re-excitation, which elucidates the mechanism behind the two-photon emission events that can spoil single-photon emission. We experimentally measure the emission statistics from a semiconductor quantum dot, acting as a two-level system, and show good agreement with our simple model for short pulses. Additionally, the model clearly explains our recent results [K. Fischer and L. Hanschke, et al., Nature Physics (2017)] showing dominant two-photon emission from a two-level system for pulses with interaction areas equal to an even multiple of .
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1708.05444,
title = {Pulsed Rabi oscillations in quantum two-level systems: beyond the Area Theorem},
author = {Kevin A. Fischer and Lukas Hanschke and Malte Kremser and Jonathan J. Finley and Kai Müller and Jelena Vučković},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1708.05444},
year = {2017}
}