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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
Published on: May 30, 2014
Continuous Generation of Quantum Light from a Single Ground-State Atom in an Optical Cavity
Celso Jorge Villas-Boas1, Karl Nicolas Tolazzi2, Bo Wang2
1Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, 13565-905 São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Abstract:
We show an optical wave-mixing scheme that generates quantum light by means of a single three-level atom. The atom couples to an optical cavity and two laser fields that together drive a cycling current within the atom. Weak driving in combination with strong atom-cavity coupling induces transitions in a harmonic ladder of dark states, accompanied by single-photon emission via a quantum Zeno effect and suppression of atomic excitation via quantum interference. For strong driving, the system can generate coherent or Schrödinger cat-like fields with frequencies distinct from those of the applied lasers.
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