Using 'slow light' to modulate single photon wavepackets

(PhysOrg.com) -- Single photons have been studied for a long time, Steve Harris tells PhysOrg.com. “But this is the first time that their wavepackets have been modulated.” Just as electrons may be described as either particles or waves, photons may also be described as particles or waves, and “in a similar manner to classical pulses of light their wavepackets may be modulated to encode additional information.” Harris immediately notes that over the last several years that several groups of scientists have used other techniques to generate shaped photonic wavepackets.