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Updated: Mar 10, 2026

Measurement of Ultrafast Vibrational Coherences in Polyatomic Radical Cations with Strong-Field Adiabatic Ionization
Published on: August 6, 2018
Single-Photon Absorber Based on Strongly Interacting Rydberg Atoms
C Tresp1, C Zimmer1, I Mirgorodskiy1
15. Physikalisches Institut and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
Abstract:
We report on the realization of a free-space single-photon absorber, which deterministically absorbs exactly one photon from an input pulse. Our scheme is based on the saturation of an optically thick medium by a single photon due to Rydberg blockade. By converting one absorbed input photon into a stationary Rydberg excitation, decoupled from the light field through fast engineered dephasing, we blockade the full atomic cloud and change our optical medium from opaque to transparent. We show that this results in the subtraction of one photon from the input pulse over a wide range of input photon numbers. We investigate the change of the pulse shape and temporal photon statistics of the transmitted light pulses for different input photon numbers and compare the results to simulations. Based on the experimental results, we discuss the applicability of our single-photon absorber for number resolved photon detection schemes or quantum gate operations.
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