- Letter
- Open Access
Continuous-wave all-optical single-photon transistor based on a Rydberg-atom ensemble
Phys. Rev. A 113, L011701 – Published 5 January, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/7q3h-nvm6
Abstract
Continuous-wave (cw) architectures provide a promising route to interface disparate quantum systems by relaxing the need for precise synchronization. While essential cw components, including microwave single-photon transistors and microwave–optical converters, have been explored, an all-optical cw single-photon transistor has remained a missing piece. We propose a high-efficiency, high-gain implementation using Rydberg atoms, in which a control photon disrupts the transmission of a continuous probe beam via the van der Waals interaction. This device completes the set of components required for cw processing of quantum signals and paves the way for all-optical processing at the quantum level.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
See Also
Continuous-wave quantum light control via engineered Rydberg-induced dephasing
Article Text
References (79)
- H. J. Kimble, The quantum internet, Nature (London) 453, 1023 (2008).
- S. Pirandola and S. Braunstein, Physics: Unite to build a quantum internet, Nature (London) 532, 169 (2016).
- C. Simon, Towards a global quantum network, Nat. Photonics 11, 678 (2017).
- V. D'Auria, B. Fedrici, L. A. Ngah et al., A universal, plug-and-play synchronisation scheme for practical quantum networks, npj Quantum Inf. 6, 21 (2020).
- M.-D. Huang, Z.-F. Jiang, H.-Y. Chen, Y. Zuo, X.-P. Hu, H.-D. Yuan, L.-J. Zhang, and Q. Qin, Frequency-modulated continuous-wave quantum interferometric lidar with enhanced accuracy and resolution, Phys. Rev. Appl. 23, 034055 (2025).
- S. P. Neumann, T. Scheidl, M. Selimovic, M. Pivoluska, B. Liu, M. Bohmann, and R. Ursin, Model for optimizing quantum key distribution with continuous-wave pumped entangled-photon sources, Phys. Rev. A 104, 022406 (2021).
- M. Cohen, L. Labonté, R. Dalidet, S. Tanzilli, and A. Martin, Two-photon interference at a telecom wavelength for quantum networking, Quantum Sci. Technol. 10, 025040 (2025).
- B. C. Das, A. Harkavi, A. Prakash, A. Nakav, L. Drori, and O. Firstenberg, Quantum nonlinear optics with counter-propagating photons, arXiv:2506.01124.
- S. Haldar, D. Barker, H. Havir, A. Ranni, S. Lehmann, K. A. Dick, and V. F. Maisi, Continuous microwave photon counting by semiconductor-superconductor hybrids, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 217001 (2024).
- A. L. Pankratov, A. V. Gordeeva, A. V. Chiginev, L. S. Revin, A. V. Blagodatkin, N. Crescini, and L. S. Kuzmin, Detection of single-mode thermal microwave photons using an underdamped Josephson junction, Nat. Commun. 16, 56040 (2025).
- L. Balembois, J. Travesedo, L. Pallegoix, A. May, E. Billaud, M. Villiers, D. Estève, D. Vion, P. Bertet, and E. Flurin, Cyclically operated microwave single-photon counter with sensitivity of , Phys. Rev. Appl. 21, 014043 (2024).
- K. Petrovnin, J. Wang, M. Perelshtein, P. Hakonen, and G. S. Paraoanu, Microwave photon detection at parametric criticality, PRX Quantum 5, 020342 (2024).
- M. Protte, T. Schapeler, J. Sperling, and T. J. Bartley, Low-noise balanced homodyne detection with superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors, Opt. Quantum 2, 1 (2024).
- C. Nill, A. Cabot, A. Trautmann, C. Groß, and I. Lesanovsky, Avalanche terahertz photon detection in a Rydberg tweezer array, Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 073603 (2024).
- D. Li, Z. Bai, X. Zuo, Y. Wu, J. Sheng, and H. Wu, Room temperature single-photon terahertz detection with thermal Rydberg atoms, arXiv:2403.05833.
- J. Hloušek, O. Jachym, and R. Machulka, Experimental observation of anomalous supralinear response of single-photon detectors, Appl. Phys. Rev. 10, 011412 (2023).
- O. Kyriienko and A. S. Sørensen, Continuous-wave single-photon transistor based on a superconducting circuit, Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 140503 (2016).
- Y. Li, Z. Bao, Z. Wang, Y. Wu, J. Wang, J. Yang, H. Xiong, Y. Song, H. Zhang, and L. Duan, Quantum switch for itinerant microwave single photons with superconducting quantum circuits, Phys. Rev. Appl. 21, 044030 (2024).
- B. Royer, A. L. Grimsmo, A. Choquette-Poitevin, and A. Blais, Itinerant microwave photon detector, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 203602 (2018).
- A. L. Grimsmo, B. Royer, J. M. Kreikebaum, Y. Ye, K. O'Brien, I. Siddiqi, and A. Blais, Quantum metamaterial for broadband detection of single microwave photons, Phys. Rev. Appl. 15, 034074 (2021).
- Z. Wang, Z. Bao, Y. Li, Y. Wu, W. Cai, W. Wang, X. Han, J. Wang, Y. Song, L. Sun, H. Zhang, and L. Duan, An ultra-high gain single-photon transistor in the microwave regime, Nat. Commun. 13, 6104 (2022).
- S. Borówka, U. Pylypenko, M. Mazelanik, and M. Parniak, Continuous wideband microwave-to-optical converter based on room-temperature Rydberg atoms, Nat. Photonics 18, 32 (2024).
- H. Zhao, W. D. Chen, A. Kejriwal, and M. Mirhosseini, Quantum-enabled continuous microwave-to-optics frequency conversion, arXiv:2406.02704.
- H. T. Tu, K. Y. Liao, Z. X. Zhang et al., High-efficiency coherent microwave-to-optics conversion via off-resonant scattering, Nat. Photonics 16, 291 (2022).
- W. Jiang, F. M. Mayor, S. Malik, R. V. Laer, T. P. McKenna, R. N. Patel, J. D. Witmer, and A. H. Safavi-Naeini, Optically Heralded microwave photon addition, Nat. Phys. 19, 1423 (2023).
- D. E. Chang, V. Vuletić, and M. D. Lukin, Quantum nonlinear optics – photon by photon, Nat. Photonics 8, 685 (2014).
- D. E. Chang, A. S. Sørensen, E. A. Demler, and M. D. Lukin, A single-photon transistor using nanoscale surface plasmons, Nat. Phys. 3, 807 (2007).
- M. Saffman, T. G. Walker, and K. Mølmer, Quantum information with Rydberg atoms, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 2313 (2010).
- A. Browaeys and T. Lahaye, Many-body physics with individually controlled Rydberg atoms, Nat. Phys. 16, 132 (2020).
- C. S. Adams, J. D. Pritchard, and J. P. Shaffer, Rydberg atom quantum technologies, J. Phys. B: At., Mol. Opt. Phys. 53, 012002 (2019).
- L. Henriet, L. Beguin, A. Signoles, T. Lahaye, A. Browaeys, G.-O. Reymond, and C. Jurczak, Quantum computing with neutral atoms, Quantum 4, 327 (2020).
- O. Firstenberg, T. Peyronel, Q.-Y. Liang, A. V. Gorshkov, M. D. Lukin, and V. Vuletić, Attractive photons in a quantum nonlinear medium, Nature (London) 502, 71 (2013).
- A. V. Gorshkov, J. Otterbach, M. Fleischhauer, T. Pohl, and M. D. Lukin, Photon-photon interactions via Rydberg blockade, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 133602 (2011).
- J. Otterbach, M. Moos, D. Muth, and M. Fleischhauer, Wigner crystallization of single photons in cold Rydberg ensembles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 113001 (2013).
- S. Das, A. Grankin, I. Iakoupov, E. Brion, J. Borregaard, R. Boddeda, I. Usmani, A. Ourjoumtsev, P. Grangier, and A. S. Sørensen, Photonic controlled-phase gates through Rydberg blockade in optical cavities, Phys. Rev. A 93, 040303(R) (2016).
- G. Higgins, F. Pokorny, C. Zhang, Q. Bodart, and M. Hennrich, Coherent control of a single trapped Rydberg ion, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 220501 (2017).
- H. Levine, A. Keesling, G. Semeghini, A. Omran, T. T. Wang, S. Ebadi, H. Bernien, M. Greiner, V. Vuletić, H. Pichler, and M. D. Lukin, Parallel implementation of high-fidelity multiqubit gates with neutral atoms, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 170503 (2019).
- K. McDonnell, L. F. Keary, and J. D. Pritchard, Demonstration of a quantum gate using electromagnetically induced transparency, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 200501 (2022).
- D. Bluvstein, H. Levine, G. Semeghini, T. T. Wang, S. Ebadi, M. Kalinowski, A. Keesling, N. Maskara, H. Pichler, M. Greiner, V. Vuletić, and M. D. Lukin, A quantum processor based on coherent transport of entangled atom arrays, Nature (London) 604, 451 (2022).
- W. Xu, A. V. Venkatramani, S. H. Cantú, T. Šumarac, V. Klüsener, M. D. Lukin, and V. Vuletić, Fast preparation and detection of a Rydberg qubit using atomic ensembles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 050501 (2021).
- H. Labuhn, D. Barredo, S. Ravets, S. de Leseleuc, T. Macrì, T. Lahaye, and A. Browaeys, Tunable two-dimensional arrays of single Rydberg atoms for realizing quantum Ising models, Nature (London) 534, 667 (2016).
- H. Bernien, S. Schwartz, A. Keesling, H. Levine, A. Omran, H. Pichler, S. Choi, A. S. Zibrov, M. Endres, M. Greiner, V. Vuletić, and M. D. Lukin, Probing many-body dynamics on a 51-atom quantum simulator, Nature (London) 551, 579 (2017).
- M. Sbroscia, K. Viebahn, E. Carter, J.-C. Yu, A. Gaunt, and U. Schneider, Observing localization in a 2D quasicrystalline optical lattice, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 200604 (2020).
- S. Ebadi, T. T. Wang, H. Levine, A. Keesling, G. Semeghini, A. Omran, D. Bluvstein, R. Samajdar, H. Pichler, W. W. Ho, S. Choi, S. Sachdev, M. Greiner, V. Vuletić, and M. D. Lukin, Quantum phases of matter on a 256-atom programmable quantum simulator, Nature (London) 595, 227 (2021).
- G. Semeghini, H. Levine, A. Keesling, S. Ebadi, T. T. Wang, D. Bluvstein, R. Verresen, H. Pichler, M. Kalinowski, R. Samajdar, A. Omran, S. Sachdev, A. Vishwanath, M. Greiner, V. Vuletić, and M. D. Lukin, Probing topological spin liquids on a programmable quantum simulator, Science 374, 1242 (2021).
- A. J. Daley, I. Bloch, C. Kokail, S. Flannigan, N. Pearson, M. Troyer, and P. Zoller, Practical quantum advantage in quantum simulation, Nature (London) 607, 667 (2022).
- L. Zhou, S.-T. Wang, S. Choi, H. Pichler, and M. D. Lukin, Quantum approximate optimization algorithm: Performance, mechanism, and implementation on near-term devices, Phys. Rev. X 10, 021067 (2020).
- J. R. Weggemans, A. Urech, A. Rausch, R. Spreeuw, R. Boucherie, F. Schreck, K. Schoutens, J. Minar, and F. Speelman, Solving correlation clustering with QAOA and a Rydberg qudit system: A full-stack approach, Quantum 6, 687 (2022).
- S. Ebadi, A. Keesling, M. Cain, T. T. Wang, H. Levine, D. Bluvstein, G. Semeghini, A. Omran, J. Liu, R. Samajdar, X.-Z. Luo, B. Nash, X. Gao, B. Barak, E. Farhi, S. Sachdev, N. Gemelke, L. Zhou, S. Choi, H. Pichler et al., Quantum optimization of maximum independent set using Rydberg atom arrays, Science 376, 1209 (2022).
- D. Tiarks, S. Baur, K. Schneider, S. Dürr, and G. Rempe, Single-photon transistor using a Förster resonance, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 053602 (2014).
- H. Gorniaczyk, C. Tresp, J. Schmidt, H. Fedder, and S. Hofferberth, Single-photon transistor mediated by interstate Rydberg interactions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 053601 (2014).
- S. Baur, D. Tiarks, G. Rempe, and S. Dürr, Single-photon switch based on Rydberg blockade, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 073901 (2014).
- H. Gorniaczyk, C. Tresp, P. Bienias, A. Paris-Mandoki, W. Li, I. Mirgorodskiy, H. P. Büchler, I. Lesanovsky, and S. Hofferberth, Enhancement of Rydberg-mediated single-photon nonlinearities by electrically tuned förster resonances, Nat. Commun. 7, 12480 (2016).
- W. Chen, K. M. Beck, R. Bücker, M. Gullans, M. D. Lukin, H. Tanji-Suzuki, and V. Vuletić, All-optical switch and transistor gated by one stored photon, Science 341, 768 (2013).
- T. G. Tiecke, J. D. Thompson, N. P. de Leon, L. R. Liu, V. Vuletić, and M. D. Lukin, Nanophotonic quantum phase switch with a single atom, Nature (London) 508, 241 (2014).
- S. Sun, H. Kim, Z. Luo, G. S. Solomon, and E. Waks, A single-photon switch and transistor enabled by a solid-state quantum memory, Science 361, 57 (2018).
- D. Aghamalyan, J.-B. You, H.-S. Chu, C. E. Png, L. Krivitsky, and L. C. Kwek, Tunable quantum switch realized with a single -level atom coupled to the microtoroidal cavity, Phys. Rev. A 100, 053851 (2019).
- M. Fleischhauer, A. Imamoglu, and J. P. Marangos, Electromagnetically induced transparency: Optics in coherent media, Rev. Mod. Phys. 77, 633 (2005).
- K. Hammerer, A. S. Sørensen, and E. S. Polzik, Quantum interface between light and atomic ensembles, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 1041 (2010).
- E. Urban, T. A. Johnson, T. Henage, L. Isenhower, D. D. Yavuz, T. G. Walker, and M. Saffman, Observation of Rydberg blockade between two atoms, Nat. Phys. 5, 110 (2009).
- Y. M. Hao, G. W. Lin, X. M. Lin et al., Single-photon transistor based on cavity electromagnetically induced transparency with Rydberg atomic ensemble, Sci. Rep. 9, 4723 (2019).
- I. Tsiamis, O. Kyriienko, and A. S. Sørensen, companion paper, Continuous-wave quantum light control via engineered Rydberg-induced dephasing, Phys. Rev. A 113, 013710 (2026).
- T. G. Walker and M. Saffman, Consequences of Zeeman degeneracy for the van der Waals blockade between Rydberg atoms, Phys. Rev. A 77, 032723 (2008).
- A. A. Clerk, M. H. Devoret, S. M. Girvin, F. Marquardt, and R. J. Schoelkopf, Introduction to quantum noise, measurement, and amplification, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 1155 (2010).
- D. F. Walls and G. J. Milburn, Quantum Optics, 2nd ed. (Springer, 2008).
- D. Witthaut and A. S. Sørensen, Photon scattering by a three-level emitter in a one-dimensional waveguide, New J. Phys. 12, 043052 (2010).
- S. Fan, Ş. E. Kocabas, and J.-T. Shen, Input-output formalism for few-photon transport in one-dimensional nanophotonic waveguides coupled to a qubit, Phys. Rev. A 82, 063821 (2010).
- C. W. Gardiner and M. J. Collett, Input and output in damped quantum systems: Quantum stochastic differential equations and the master equation, Phys. Rev. A 31, 3761 (1985).
- A. V. Gorshkov, A. André, M. D. Lukin, and A. S. Sørensen, Photon storage in -type optically dense atomic media. I. Cavity model, Phys. Rev. A 76, 033804 (2007).
- A. V. Gorshkov, A. André, M. D. Lukin, and A. S. Sørensen, Photon storage in -type optically dense atomic media. II. Free-space model, Phys. Rev. A 76, 033805 (2007).
- D. Pinotsi and A. Imamoglu, Single photon absorption by a single quantum emitter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 093603 (2008).
- J. Dalibard, Y. Castin, and K. Mølmer, Wave-function approach to dissipative processes in quantum optics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 580 (1992).
- K. Mølmer, Y. Castin, and J. Dalibard, Monte Carlo wave-function method in quantum optics, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 10, 524 (1993).
- E. Zeuthen, M. J. Gullans, M. F. Maghrebi, and A. V. Gorshkov, Correlated photon dynamics in dissipative Rydberg media, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 043602 (2017).
- C. R. Murray, A. V. Gorshkov, and T. Pohl, Many-body decoherence dynamics and optimized operation of a single-photon switch, New J. Phys. 18, 092001 (2016).
- J. Vaneecloo, S. Garcia, and A. Ourjoumtsev, Intracavity Rydberg superatom for optical quantum engineering: Coherent control, single-shot detection, and optical phase shift, Phys. Rev. X 12, 021034 (2022).
- T. Stolz, H. Hegels, M. Winter, B. Röhr, Y.-F. Hsiao, L. Husel, G. Rempe, and S. Dürr, Quantum-logic gate between two optical photons with an average efficiency above 40%, Phys. Rev. X 12, 021035 (2022).
- J. A. Sauer, K. M. Fortier, M. S. Chang, C. D. Hamley, and M. S. Chapman, Cavity QED with optically transported atoms, Phys. Rev. A 69, 051804(R) (2004).
- B. M. Sparkes, J. Bernu, M. Hosseini, J. Geng, Q. Glorieux, P. A. Altin, P. K. Lam, N. P. Robins, and B. C. Buchler, Gradient echo memory in an ultra-high optical depth cold atomic ensemble, New J. Phys. 15, 085027 (2013).