Abstract

The quest for further miniaturization of computers and the prospects of quantum information processing have motivated scientists to seek nonlinear and transistor functionalities in quantum mechanical building blocks such as atoms. However, all-optical nonlinear operation at the single emitter level has been deemed exceptionally challenging and only been considered in high-finesse microcavities or waveguides. Here, we demonstrate stimulated emission from a single dye molecule and show that it can coherently attenuate and amplify a freely propagating laser beam.

© 2009 IEEE