Single-photon switching in photonic crystal waveguide with quantum impurity via a control light

•A single-photon passes through a three-level quantum impurity.•The position of the reflection spectrum peak shifts with the Rabi frequency.•An effective single-photon switching is achieved.

We investigate the transmission properties of a single-photon through a three-level quantum impurity embedded in a photonic crystal waveguide. The transmission and reflection spectra are obtained by exactly solving a real-space Hamiltonian model through the S matrix theory. Results show that there is a peak in the reflection spectrum, and the linewidth is dependent on the coupling constant, and the position shifts with the Rabi frequency. Based on this tuning properties of the spectrum, an effective single-photon switching is proposed and analyzed systematically.