Generation of a single-photon source via a four-wave mixing process in a cavity

It is shown that an efficient, well-directional single-photon source can be realized via a four-wave mixing process in a cavity. The probability of producing a single-photon state nearly approaches 50%. The bandwidth of single-photons generated in this way is controllable, which is determined by that of the input pulse. Furthermore, we propose a scheme to generate a coherent multichannel single-photon source, which might have significant applications in wavelength division multiplexing quantum key distribution.