Fidelity <em>F</em> of the full transfer driven by Gaussian pulses plus weak coupling decay versus the three-photon resonance mismatch Delta _{mathit {{ m eff}}}=Delta _R-(Delta _B-Delta _C-alpha _C Omega _C/2) R KamsapM B EkogoT Pedregosa-GutierrezJ HagelG HoussinM MorizotO KnoopM ChampenoisC 2013 <p><strong>Figure 6.</strong> Fidelity <em>F</em> of the full transfer driven by Gaussian pulses plus weak coupling decay versus the three-photon resonance mismatch \Delta _{\mathit {{\rm eff}}}=\Delta _R-(\Delta _B-\Delta _C-\alpha _C \Omega _C/2). Common laser parameters are \Omega _B^0/2\pi =400 MHz and \Omega _R^0/2\pi =40 MHz. The strong coupling cases for the weak transition are for Ω<sub><em>C</em></sub>/2π = 10 MHz, Δ<sub><em>C</em></sub>/2π = 100 MHz, Δ<em>t</em> = 20μs and Δ<sub><em>B</em></sub>/2π = 100 MHz (dashed blue line) and Δ<sub><em>B</em></sub>/2π = 190 MHz (dot-dashed black line). The weak coupling cases are for Ω<sub><em>C</em></sub>/2π = 1 MHz, Δ<sub><em>C</em></sub>/2π = 10 MHz Δ<em>t</em> = 45 μs, Δ<sub><em>B</em></sub>/2π = 100 MHz (red dotted line) and Δ<sub><em>B</em></sub>/2π = 10 MHz (green solid line).</p> <p><strong>Abstract</strong></p> <p>A stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP)-like scheme is proposed to exploit a three-photon resonance taking place in alkaline-earth-metal ions. This scheme is designed for state transfer between the two fine structure components of the metastable D-state which are two excited states that can serve as optical or THz qubit. The advantage of a coherent three-photon process compared to a two-photon STIRAP lies in the possibility of exact cancellation of the first-order Doppler shift which opens the way for an application to a sample composed of many ions. The transfer efficiency and its dependence with experimental parameters are analysed by numerical simulations. This efficiency is shown to reach a fidelity as high as (1–8 <b>×</b> 10<sup>−5</sup>) with realistic parameters. The scheme is also extended to the synthesis of a linear combination of three stable or metastable states.</p>