Optical bistability of a single-mode cavity containing a two-level atom in the Purcell regime has been analyzed. Compared with the case of a symmetric cavity, we find that the bistable regime of input power in an asymmetric cavity can be controlled by adjusting the cavity-loss rates of the asymmetric walls. Such results provide an optimal window of input power to realize giant optical nonreciprocity, which has promising application as the smallest all-optical diode unit with low operation power and high transmitted contrast.

Inspired by the advantage of unconventional photon blockade (UCPB), we propose a simple cavity-driven quantum electrodynamics model composed of a single two-level atom embedded in an asymmetrical Fabry-Perot cavity. We derive the necessary matching conditions of frequency and intensity required for unconventional photon blockade. In the asymmetric cavity, the optimal atom-cavity coupling strength to get UCPB is related to the driving direction, which causes the equal-time second-order correlation function $g^{\left(2\right)}\left(0\right)$ of the cavity field depending on the driving direction, too. Due to the direction dependent effect, the output photons can be bunched in one direction incident while they are antibunched in the opposite direction incident, which is the so-called nonreciprocal UCPB (NUCPB). A giant NUCPB can be obtained under the appropriate parameter regime, where the output photons are fully antibunching in the opposite driving case. Our findings show a prospective path to producing giant quantum nonreciprocity.

Optics InfoBase is the Optical Society's online library for flagship journals, partnered and copublished journals, and recent proceedings from OSA conferences.

We find that the V-type three-level Zeeman atom has the complete quantum interference when it is embedded in one-dimensional photonic crystals (1D PCs) possessing the TM-polarized complete gap. To avoid the nonradiative decay related to dissipation and the decay through surface exciton, we add two phase compensators made of ideal left-handed materials on two sides of atom, and then the total structure is equivalent to a 1D PC supporting only the radiative modes. The parameter regions (ϵ, μ) leading to the TM-polarized complete gap have been sketched out, and the influence of absorption on the quantum interference is discussed.

The dynamical control of single-photon scattering in a one-dimensional waveguide coupled to a Floquet atom-cavity system with time-modulated coupling constants is investigated. The analytical expressions for determining the scattering properties are obtained by using an effective Floquet Hamiltonian in real space. The photon transport is extremely sensitive to the time-modulated atom-cavity coupling strengths. Two cases, i.e., the effective Floquet Hamiltonian either includes or excludes a static coupling term, are discussed in detail. The results show that, with such Floquet atom-cavity configuration, an active photonic switch with nearly ideal switching contrast could be implemented. The transmission of the waveguide photons with different frequencies can dynamically be switched on or off via adjusting the modulated amplitude or relative modulated phase no matter whether the static coupling between the atom and the two cavity modes is considered or not. The application of the dynamic modulated atom-cavity coupling strengths instead of a purely static one makes our photonic switch more tunable. These results are expected to be applicable in quantum information processing and in active quantum device design involving dynamical modulation.