• Chinese Optics Letters
  • Vol. 20, Issue 6, 062701 (2022)
Jiang-Shan Tang1、2, Lei Tang1, and Keyu Xia1、2、*
Author Affiliations
  • 1College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  • 2School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
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    DOI: 10.3788/COL202220.062701 Cite this Article Set citation alerts
    Jiang-Shan Tang, Lei Tang, Keyu Xia. Three methods for the single-photon transport in a chiral cavity quantum electrodynamics system[J]. Chinese Optics Letters, 2022, 20(6): 062701 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    We investigate the single-photon transport problem in the system of a whispering-gallery mode microresonator chirally coupled with a two-level quantum emitter (QE). Conventionally, this chiral QE-microresonator coupling system can be studied by the master equation and the single-photon transport methods. Here, we provide a new approach, based on the transfer matrix, to assess the single-photon transmission of such a system. Furthermore, we prove that these three methods are equivalent. The corresponding relations of parameters among these approaches are precisely deduced. The transfer matrix can be extended to a multiple-resonator system interacting with two-level QEs in a chiral way. Therefore, our work may provide a convenient and intuitive form for exploring more complex chiral cavity quantum electrodynamics systems.

    1. Introduction

    The interaction of light and matter at the single-quantum level is the basis of essential physics of many phenomena and applications[1], which has been extensively explored in various quantum systems, such as quantum emitters (QEs) coupling with single-mode waveguides[29], cavities[1018], plasmons[1923], and whispering-gallery mode microresonators[2430]. In recent years, an emerging field of research, called “chiral quantum optics”[31], exhibits chiral interactions of light and QEs[3238] and has received extensive attention in the field of optical nonreciprocity[32,35,3941].

    To realize the chiral light–matter interaction, an external magnetic field is usually required to induce the magneto-optical effect[41] or initialize the states of QEs[42]. It greatly limits the miniaturization and integration of single-photon devices. Recently, all-optical approaches, based on the optical Stark shift of quantum dots (QDs)[35] and the valley-selective response in transition metal dichalcogenides[43], have been proposed to release the requirement of magnetic biases. Towards on-chip chiral single-photon interfaces, non-magnetic schemes have been designed based on a whispering-gallery mode microresonator chirally coupled with a two-level QE[32,35,39,40].

    Theoretically, the single-photon transport (SPT) problem in the system of a whispering-gallery mode microresonator coupled to a waveguide can be solved by methods such as the master equation (ME)[4449], the SPT[4,26,5052], and the transfer matrix (TM)[53]. The whispering-gallery mode microresonator system containing a two-level QE has also been discussed under the framework of the ME and SPT theory[4,24,26,54], even extending to the chiral interactions[31,32,35,40]. However, how to deal with the chiral interaction of a whispering-gallery mode microresonator with a two-level QE using the TM method is still not available. The inner link among these three methods also remains to be revealed.

    In this work, we study the SPT problem in a chiral QE-microresonator system using the TM method. By introducing a nonlinear coefficient related to the two-level QE into the transfer relation, we can use the TM method to solve the single-photon transmission. In this sense, the two-level QE can be regarded as a single-photon phase-amplitude modulator. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the ME, SPT, and TM methods are equivalent in dealing with such chiral cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems. The correspondence between the parameters of the three methods is strictly deduced.

    This paper is organized as follows. In Sec. 2, we review the ME and the SPT theory for the SPT problem in a chiral QE-microresonator system, respectively. Next, we discuss the TM approach and show that the three methods above are equivalent if we treat the two-level QE as a single-photon phase-amplitude modulator. In Sec. 3, we show the numerical results of these three methods. In the end, we present a conclusion in Sec. 4.

    2. System and Model

    The chiral QE-microresonator system, depicted in Fig. 1, consists of a whispering-gallery mode microresonator, a waveguide, and a two-level QE. The microresonator, which can be made with various material platforms, such as silicon oxynitride[55,56], polymers[57], or silicon on insulator[5860], supports two traveling wave modes, i.e., clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) modes. Near the outer sidewall of the microresonator, the evanescent fields of the whispering-gallery modes are almost perfectly circularly polarized with its polarization locked to the propagation direction[27,35]. We assume that the evanescent field of the CCW mode is σ+-polarized and that of the CW mode is σ-polarized. As shown in Fig. 1, the QE is positioned near the outer sidewall of the microresonator. After initializing the QE in a specific spin ground state[6163] or shifting the transition energy with a polarization-selective optical Stark effect[6466], we can treat the QE as a two-level system with only σ+-polarization-driven transition. One can use a precisely positioned atom[40,67], QD[34,42,68,69], or nanopillar covered by monolayers[7072] to construct that two-level QE. As a result, the QE-microresonator coupling strength is dependent on the propagating direction of light in our chiral system. In the forward case, the incident light from port 1 excites the CCW mode, and it strongly couples with the QE with the coupling strength g. However, in the backward (port 2 incident) case, the CW mode is decoupled with the QE, and thus the coupling rate is negligible (i.e., g0). Practically, backscattering is usually present due to the surface roughness of the microresonator. In this paper, we treat the backscattering as one scatterer[73], as depicted in Fig. 1.

    Schematic of a chiral QE-microresonator system. A two-level QE is coupled to a whispering-gallery mode microresonator in a chiral way to form the QE-microresonator system. A waveguide is side coupled to the microresonator as input and output ports. A scatterer on the microresonator is considered to introduce backscattering. The arrows represent the propagating direction of a single photon for an input to port 1 (green) or port 2 (red).

    Figure 1.Schematic of a chiral QE-microresonator system. A two-level QE is coupled to a whispering-gallery mode microresonator in a chiral way to form the QE-microresonator system. A waveguide is side coupled to the microresonator as input and output ports. A scatterer on the microresonator is considered to introduce backscattering. The arrows represent the propagating direction of a single photon for an input to port 1 (green) or port 2 (red).

    Below, we first provide the ME, SPT, and TM methods to solve the response of the system. Then, we show that these three methods are equivalent if we treat the two-level QE as a single-photon phase-amplitude modulator. We only discuss the forward case (g0) in detail, and the backward case corresponds to the system without the QE (g=0).

    2.1. Master Equation Method

    In this section, we discuss the ME method to solve our model. For a coupled atom-microresonator system, it has been analyzed[24]. Here, we discuss the chiral coupling using the same approach. We consider that a two-level QE with transition frequency ωqe is coupled to the CCW mode and decoupled to the opposite mode. The two degenerate whispering-gallery modes, with same resonant frequency Ω and dissipation κtol, are assumed to be coupled with each other in a strength h due to the scatterer. Here, we divide the dissipation κtol into two parts, the intrinsic decay rate of κin and the external loss of κex, satisfying κtol=κin+κex. A weak coherent field of frequency ω with an amplitude αin drives the CCW mode a. In a good single-photon approximation, αin1. In a frame rotating at the frequency ω, the Hamiltonian of our system can be obtained[74]: H=Δ1aaΔ2σ+σΔ1bb+i2κexαin(aa)+g(aσ+σ+a)+h(ab+ba),where g represents the coupling strength between the CCW mode and the QE. Δ1=ωΩ and Δ2=ωωqe are the detunings. b is the annihilation operator of the CW mode. σ± are the raising and lowering operators describing the two-level QE. It is worth noting that if we consider the coupling of two microresonators instead of the scatterer, the Hamiltonian has the same form as Eq. (1). In this case, h describes the coupling strength between the two microresonators.

    Introducing the dissipation of the QE, γ, the evolution of the system can be found by solving the ME, ρ˙=i[H,ρ]+κtol(2aρaaaρρaa)+κtol(2bρbbbρρbb)+γ(2σρσ+σ+σρρσ+σ),where ρ is the density operator. From Eq. (2), we can derive the equations of motion, a˙=iΔ˜1a+αin2κexigσihb,σ˙=iΔ˜2σ+igσza,b˙=iΔ˜1biha,and obtain the steady-state solution, a=iαin2κexΔ˜1Δ˜2Δ˜1(Δ˜1Δ˜2+σzg2)Δ˜2h2,where σz=σ+σσσ+, Δ˜1=Δ1+iκtol, and Δ˜2=Δ2+iγ. According to the input–output relation, aout=αin2κexa, the transmission amplitude is defined as tω=aout/αin. Thus, we can get the transmission amplitude in port 2: tω=Δ˜1[(Δ1+iκiniκex)Δ˜2+σzg2]Δ˜2h2Δ˜1(Δ˜1Δ˜2+σzg2)Δ˜2h2.

    The transmission of port 2 can be obtained from T=|tω|2. Moreover, the full quantum dynamics of the system can be found by numerically solving Eq. (2) in a truncated space of photon number for the whispering-gallery modes.

    2.2. Single-photon transport method

    Hereafter, we consider only a single photon in our system. Based on the SPT theory[4,26,50], our previous work[35] has given a transmission amplitude for such a chiral system. The Hamiltonian for the single-excitation system takes the form[35]H=dxcF(x)(ω0ivgx)cF(x)+dxcB(x)(ω0+ivgx)cB(x)+(Ωiκin)aa+(Ωiκin)bb+(Ωeiγ)aeae+Ωgagag+dxδ(x)[VacF(x)a+Va*acF(x)]+dxδ(x)[VbcB(x)b+Vb*bcB(x)]+gaσ++g*aσ+hba+h*ab,where cF/B(x) is a Bosonic operator creating a forward- or back-moving photon with reference frequency ω0 at x in the waveguide, σ+=aeag (σ=agae) is the raising (lowering) operator for the QE with transition frequency ωqe=ΩeΩg, g is the coupling strength for the interaction between the QE and the CCW mode a, and the QE is decoupled to the CW mode b in our system. Va/b is the waveguide-microresonator coupling strength of mode a or b. We set Va=Vb=V and thus have the external decay rate of the microresonator κex=V2/2vg, where vg is the group velocity of the photon in the waveguide.

    A single-excitation state for the system is given by |ψ=dx[φ˜F(x,t)cF(x)+φ˜B(x,t)cB(x)]|+[e˜a(t)a+e˜b(t)b+e˜qe(t)σ+]|,with the eigenfrequency ω, where φ˜F/B(x,t) is the single-photon wave function of the forward- or backward-moving mode, e˜a/b is the excitation amplitude of mode a or b, and e˜qe is the excitation amplitude of the QE. Note that ϒ=eiωtϒ with ϒ{φR,φL,ea,eb,eq}. | is the vacuum state. To solve the single-photon transmission amplitude, we take φF(x)=eiqx[θ(x)+tωθ(x)] and φB(x)=rωeiqxθ(x) with the Heaviside step function θ(x), where tω (rω) is the transmission (reflection) amplitude, and q is the wave vector of the input field with the frequency around ω. Based on the Schrödinger equation in real space, H|ψ=i|ψ/t, we can derive the steady-state transmission amplitude in port 2: tω=Δ˜1[(Δ1+iκiniκex)Δ˜2g2]Δ˜2h2Δ˜1(Δ˜1Δ˜2g2)Δ˜2h2,where the detunings Δ1, Δ˜1, and Δ˜2 are the same as the parameters in Sec. 2.1.

    If we consider σz=1 in the ME method, that is, the weak probe field approximation[74], we can find that Eq. (5) and Eq. (8) are equivalent. In Sec. 2.4, we will verify that the TM method is consistent with the SPT method.

    2.3. Transfer matrix method

    Next, we study the chiral QE-microresonator system using the TM method. Under the notation in Fig. 1, the coupling relation between the waveguide and the microresonator can be written as {a1=t*b1κ*a0b0=ta0+κb1,{c1=t*d1κ*c0d0=tc0+κd1,where t and κ are the transmission and coupling coefficients, and |t|2+|κ|2=1 for lossless coupling. We write Eq. (9) in a matrix form: (a0b0c0d0)=1κ*(1t*00t100001t*00t1)(a1b1c1d1)Mcpl(a1b1c1d1).

    The size of the QE and the scatterer is much smaller than that of the structure of the microresonator, so theoretically they can be treated as particles. We assume the coupling point of the waveguide with the microresonator, QE, and scatterer divide the microresonator into three parts with lengths Lj (j = 1, 2, 3), satisfying L1+L2+L3=2πR; see Fig. 1. Here, R is the radius of the microresonator. The field component notations are shown in Fig. 1. When a single photon propagates around the microresonator, it will accumulate propagation phases θj=βLj and may attenuate with loss αj(Lj)[53]. We take θ=θ1+θ2+θ3 and α=α1α2α3. The factor β is the propagation constant in the microresonator as given by β=neffω/c, where neff is the effective refractive index, and ω is the frequency. Thus, we have the transfer relation (a1b1c1d1)=MproMx(a3b3c3d3),b3=α2eiθ2a3,d3=α2eiθ2c3,where Mpro=(α11eiθ10000α3eiθ30000α31eiθ30000α1eiθ1),Mx is derived from the contributions of the QE and the scatterer, and its exact form will be discussed below. We refer to Mcpl and Mpro as coupling and propagation matrices. Combining Eqs. (10) and (11), we obtain the TM as (a0b0c0d0)=McplMproMx(a3b3c3d3).

    We consider a single input of port 1 (c0=0). It excites the CCW-direction whispering-gallery mode. In the following, we will discuss the single-photon transmission in four different cases.

    2.3.1. No two-level QE and no scatterer

    We first consider the case without two-level QEs and scatterers; the form of Mx can be directly obtained: Mx=(1000010000100001).

    In the absence of scatterers, the CCW and CW modes are decoupled. Substituting Eq. (14) and Eq. (11) into Eq. (13), we get the transmission amplitude in port 2[53]: tω=b0a0=t+αeiθ1+αt*eiθ.

    2.3.2. No two-level QE and one scatterer

    In this case, we consider the effect of the scatterer in the microresonator. The relation between the amplitudes can be written as b2=tsb3+rsc2, c3=tsc2+rsb3, a3=a2, and d2=d3. Thus, we have Mx=(100001/tsrs/ts00rs/ts1/ts00001),where ts and rs are the transmission and reflection coefficients, respectively. They satisfy |ts|2+|rs|2=1 when the dissipation of the scatterer is neglected. The two whispering-gallery modes are coupled to each other in this case. We assume the scatterer is weak, thus we can write ts and rs in the following forms[73]: ts=cosε1ε22,rs=isinεiε.

    Then, we have the transmission amplitude in port 2: tω=b0a0=t+αeiθtst*αeiθ1tst*αeiθ1+αt*eiθtst*αeiθ1tst*αeiθ.

    2.3.3. One two-level QE and no scatterer

    Here, we study the effect of a two-level QE directionally coupled to a microresonator. Because the QE is in a specific spin ground state or the polarization-selective energy-level transition, the coupling of the QE and the evanescent field on the microresonator is direction-dependent. The reflection of single-photon propagation will vanish due to such chiral QE–light interaction[32,35]. In this case, the single photon will not excite the CW mode, leading to decoupling between the CCW and CW modes. We assume the single photon through the two-level QE with a transmission coefficient tqe, i.e., a3=tqea2 and d2=d3, such that Mx=(tqe1000010000100001),and tω=b0a0=t+αeiθtqe1+αt*eiθtqe.

    The specific form of tqe will be discussed below.

    2.3.4. One two-level QE and one scatterer

    Combining with the above discussions, we can obtain the form of Mx, considering both a two-level QE directionally coupled to the microresonator and a scatterer: Mx=(tqe100001/tsrs/ts00rs/ts1/ts00001).

    The transmission amplitude can be calculated as tω=b0a0=t+αeiθtqetst*αeiθ1tst*αeiθ1+αt*eiθtqetst*αeiθ1tst*αeiθ.

    It can be found that the transmission amplitude tω is independent of the relative distance L2 between the QE and the scatterer on the microresonator from Eq. (22). This is because the chiral coupling of the QE with the microresonator only causes a modulation of the transmission tqe of the single photon propagating in the microresonator. Such modulation does not depend on the position of the QE on the microresonator; see Eq. (21). Therefore, the case of a single-emitter coupling can be generalized to multi-emitter cases by successively multiplying tqe in the transfer relation of the field amplitudes.

    2.4. Single-photon phase-amplitude modulator

    We define the round-trip time of the microresonator, τrt=2πRneff/c, that a photon needs to make a round trip in the microresonator of length 2πR. It is the inverse of the free spectral range F, i.e., τrt=1/F[75]. Since F1 for a microresonator, τrt is a small amount. We have exp(iθ)=exp[i(ωΩ)τrt]1+iΔ1τrt. On the one hand, for a single photon having travelled a round trip in the microresonator, we have a1(τrt)=αt*a1(0) from the transfer relation. The circulating power meets |a1(τrt)|2=α2t2|a1(0)|2. On the other hand, we can obtain |a1(τrt)|2=exp(2κtolτrt)|a1(0)|2 from the dissipative properties of the microresonator. Hence, we have α=eκinτrt1κinτrt,t=eκexτrt1κexτrt.

    Because the size of the two-level QE is much smaller than that of the bend structure of the microresonator, the interaction between the evanescent field and the QE can be approximated as a waveguide coupling with a two-level QE directionally[32], with a transmission coefficient tqe=ωωqe+i(γΓ)ωωqe+i(γ+Γ),where Γ is the decay rate from the QE into the waveguide. Therefore, substituting Eqs. (17), (23), and (24) into Eq. (22) and ignoring the second-order small quantity, we have tω=t+αeiθtqetst*αeiθ1tst*αeiθ1+αt*eiθtqetst*αeiθ1tst*αeiθκexτrt1+(1κinτrt+iΔ1τrt)[(12iΓΔ˜2+iΓ)(1+ε2iΔ˜1τrt+ε2/2)]1+(1+iΔ˜1τrt)[(12iΓΔ˜2+iΓ)(1+ε2iΔ˜1τrt+ε2/2)]Δ˜1[(Δ1+iκiniκex)Δ˜2Γ(2/τrtκtol)]Δ˜2ε2τrt2Δ˜1[Δ˜1Δ˜2Γ(2/τrtκtol)]Δ˜2ε2τrt2=Δ˜1[(Δ1+iκiniκex)Δ˜2Γ(2Fκtol)]Δ˜2(ε×F)2Δ˜1[Δ˜1Δ˜2Γ(2Fκtol)]Δ˜2(ε×F)2.

    Comparing Eq. (25) with Eq. (8), we can find that if we take (2Fκtol)Γ=g2,ε×F=h,the TM method and the SPT method are consistent. This also proves that the assumption of Eq. (24) is well valid. For a system in which a two-level QE is chirally coupled to the waveguide, the light field interacts with the QE only once, and the decay rate from the QE into the waveguide is Γ. However, when the QE is coupled to the microresonator, the photons in the microresonator interact with the QE many times. As a result, the microresonator has a feedback modulation to the decay rate Γ. If we define Γeff=(2Fκtol)Γ, then the physical meaning of Γeff is the effective decay rate from the QE into the microresonator. It is equal to the coupling strength g. For the second term in Eq. (26), ε is a dimensionless parameter in the TM method. It is equal to the backscattering strength h by multiplying the free spectral range F, which has a dimension of frequency. Note that ε only needs to vary from 0 to π; see Eq. (17). Thus, ε reflects the normalized magnitude of backscattering strength in the microresonator.

    Note that the chiral coupling of the two-level QE to the microresonator does not require additional auxiliary fields. This vacuum-induced interaction causes a phase shift and an amplitude modulation of a single photon passing through the QE. Therefore, the two-level QE can be treated as a single-photon phase-amplitude modulator. We divide Eq. (24) into two parts: tqe=exp(iφpha)exp(φdis),where exp(iφpha)=arg(tqe) represents the change of the phase, and exp(φdis)=|tqe| describes the attenuation of the amplitude. The additional propagation phase introduced by the two-level QE can be equivalent to a shift of the effective resonance frequency of the microresonator. When a single photon travels around the microresonator, in the absence of the QE, we have θ=2πRβ=2πmω/Ω, where m=ΩneffR/c is the modal number. But, if we consider the chiral QE-microresonator interaction, the additional propagation phase φpha leads to θ+φpha=2πmω/Ωeff. The effective resonance frequency of the microresonator is ΩeffΩ(1φphaΩ2πmω),and ΩeffΩ(1φpha/2πm) for Ω/ω1.

    In general, by equating a two-level QE directionally coupled with a microresonator to a single-photon phase-amplitude modulator, we can use the TM method to solve the SPT problem in such chiral QE-microresonator systems. This only needs to be multiplied by a transmission coefficient tqe in the transfer relation. Furthermore, this approach can be extended to more complex systems such as a coupled-resonator optical waveguide interacting with an array of two-level QEs in a chiral way[76].

    3. Results

    Below, we numerically study our system to prove the consistency of these three methods. For the TM and SPT methods, we solve Eqs. (22) and (8) directly, whereas, for the ME method, we perform a full quantum dynamics simulation using Eq. (2). We set a prepared QD as the two-level QE for coupling to a silicon-based microresonator in a chiral way. In Figs. 14, the experimentally available parameters are chosen as[60,68,77]R=10.5μm, neff=1.5, F/2π=3THz, αin/κtol=0.1, and γ/2π=6MHz. The conversion relationships between the parameters of the three methods are given by Eqs. (23) and (26). We take t=α=0.99, thus satisfying the critical coupling condition, κex/2π=κin/2π=30GHz. The frequency of the QD is resonant with the microresonator, i.e., ωqe=Ω.

    Transmission spectra of a waveguide coupled with a microresonator. The blue solid, red dashed, and green dotted curves are calculated by the TM, ME, and SPT methods, respectively. The settings in the following figures are the same: (a) in the absence of backscattering, (b) and (c) in presence of the backscattering with strengths h = κin and h = 10κin, respectively. See Sec. 3 for other parameters.

    Figure 2.Transmission spectra of a waveguide coupled with a microresonator. The blue solid, red dashed, and green dotted curves are calculated by the TM, ME, and SPT methods, respectively. The settings in the following figures are the same: (a) in the absence of backscattering, (b) and (c) in presence of the backscattering with strengths h = κin and h = 10κin, respectively. See Sec. 3 for other parameters.

    Transmission spectra for a chiral QE-microresonator system without considering the backscattering: (a)–(c) Γ = 0.1γ, Γ = γ, and Γ = 100γ, respectively.

    Figure 3.Transmission spectra for a chiral QE-microresonator system without considering the backscattering: (a)–(c) Γ = 0.1γ, Γ = γ, and Γ = 100γ, respectively.

    Transmission spectra for a chiral QE-microresonator system with the QE and the scatterer: (a) Γ = 100γ, h = κin and (b) Γ = 100γ, h = 10κin.

    Figure 4.Transmission spectra for a chiral QE-microresonator system with the QE and the scatterer: (a) Γ = 100γ, h = κin and (b) Γ = 100γ, h = 10κin.

    We first consider the case without a two-level QD, corresponding to Γ=0 (g=0), shown in Fig. 2. When the strength h=0, the deep transmission appears at the resonance point [see Fig. 2(a)]. As the strength h increases, the transmission spectrum gradually splits [see Figs. 2(b) and 2(c)]. The calculation results of the three methods are exactly the same.

    Then, we consider the chiral coupling of a two-level QD. By modeling the two-level QD chirally coupled to the microresonator as a single-photon phase-amplitude modulator, we can use the TM method to solve SPT problems. Figure 3 shows the transmission spectra without scatterers. The presence of the two-level QD causes the transmission spectrum to split[35]. We can find that the transmission spectra calculated by the three methods are consistent regardless of whether it is under weak coupling, Γ=0.1γ and Γ=γ (g/κtol=0.03 and g/κtol=0.1), or strong coupling, Γ=100γ (g/κtol=1). The results taking into account the effect of backscattering are shown in Fig. 4. We consider the case of strong coupling, Γ=100γ. Whether it is in the case of weak backscattering [see Fig. 4(a)] or strong backscattering [see Fig. 4(b)], the calculation results are consistent. Therefore, our numerical results further confirm the above theoretical analyses and prove the correctness of the parameter correspondence among these three methods.

    We now discuss the effect of the pump power in the ME method. It is proportional to the driving amplitude αin. As we have analyzed above, the three methods are equivalent only if the probe field is a weak pump. It can be found that with the increase of the driving amplitude, the results of the TM method gradually have a difference with those of the ME method, especially at the resonant frequency Δ/κtol=0; see Fig. 5(a). This is because the average photon number of the system reaches its maximum at the resonance, and it is no longer a single-photon case. Figure 5(b) shows the transmission spectra versus the driving amplitude αin at Δ/κtol=0. The result of the TM method is constant because it is independent of αin. In contrast, in the ME method, the transmission decreases as αin increases for both strong and weak coupling of the QE. As shown in Fig. 5(b), in the range of αin/κtol0.23, the transmission calculated by the ME method is greater than 0.9 (see the black dotted line). At this time, the result calculated by the TM method, T1, is almost consistent with it. For a larger pump power, the TM method is no longer accurate. It is worth noting that at off-resonance, the TM method is still valid, as shown in Fig. 5(a).

    (a) Transmission spectra for different driving amplitudes αin (corresponding to different pump powers), where the blue solid curve is calculated by the TM method, and the green dash-dotted curve (the red dashed curve, the purple dotted curve) is calculated by the ME method, with αin/κtol=0.1 (αin/κtol=0.5, αin/κtol=1). (b) Transmission spectra as a function of αin at different decay rates, where Γ = γ (the blue solid curve) and Γ = 100γ (the red dash-dotted curve) correspond to weak and strong coupling, respectively. Other parameters are κex = κin = 0.5κtol, γ/κtol = 1 × 10−4, g/κtol = 1, and h = κin.

    Figure 5.(a) Transmission spectra for different driving amplitudes αin (corresponding to different pump powers), where the blue solid curve is calculated by the TM method, and the green dash-dotted curve (the red dashed curve, the purple dotted curve) is calculated by the ME method, with αin/κtol=0.1 (αin/κtol=0.5, αin/κtol=1). (b) Transmission spectra as a function of αin at different decay rates, where Γ = γ (the blue solid curve) and Γ = 100γ (the red dash-dotted curve) correspond to weak and strong coupling, respectively. Other parameters are κex = κin = 0.5κtol, γ/κtol = 1 × 10−4, g/κtol = 1, and h = κin.

    4. Conclusion

    We demonstrate that a two-level QE can be treated as a single-photon phase-amplitude modulator in a chiral QE-microresonator system. Based on this, we can solve the SPT problem by the method of TM. Theoretical analyses confirm that the TM method is consistent with the ME and the SPT methods. Also, the results of numerical analysis prove the correctness of parameter relationships. Without loss of generality, the TM method can be extended to solve the single-photon transmission of any number of two-level QEs chirally coupled to multiple microresonators.

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    Jiang-Shan Tang, Lei Tang, Keyu Xia. Three methods for the single-photon transport in a chiral cavity quantum electrodynamics system[J]. Chinese Optics Letters, 2022, 20(6): 062701
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