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Nonclassical light from finite-range interactions in a two-dimensional quantum mirror

Journal Article · · Physical Review. B
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2]
  1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States); Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (United States); Aarhus University (Denmark); OSTI
  2. Aarhus University (Denmark)
  3. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (United States)

Excitons in a semiconductor monolayer form a collective resonance that can reflect resonant light with extraordinarily high efficiency. We investigate the nonlinear optical properties of such atomistically thin mirrors and show that finite-range interactions between excitons can lead to the generation of highly nonclassical light. We describe two scenarios, in which optical nonlinearities arise either from direct photon coupling to excitons in excited Rydberg states or from resonant two-photon excitation of Rydberg excitons with finite-range interactions. The latter case yields conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency and thereby provides an efficient mechanism for single-photon switching between high transmission and reflectance of the monolayer, with a tunable dynamical timescale of the emerging photon-photon interactions. Remarkably, it turns out that the resulting high degree of photon correlations remains virtually unaffected by Rydberg-state decoherence, in excess of nonradiative decoherence observed for ground-state excitons in two-dimensional semiconductors. This robustness to imperfections suggests a promising approach to quantum photonics at the level of individual photons.

Research Organization:
Stanford University, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); European Union (EU); German Research Foundation (DFG); Carlsberg Foundation; Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0020115
OSTI ID:
1979723
Journal Information:
Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 105; ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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