Acta Physica Polonica A
Experiments with a Mesomaser
W. Lange, HERBERT WALTHER
Abstract
We investigated the dynamically modified interaction between Rydberg atoms and a single mode of a microwave cavity driven by a strong external field.With a monochromatic injected field we observed dynamic suppression of spontaneous emission, when the intracavity Rabi frequency exceeds the cavity linewidth.We discuss a theoretical model using non-Markovian decay rates, which is in excellent agreement with experiment.When a bichromatic driving field is used, enhanced decay reappears in narrow resonance zones as the detunings and injected intensities are varied.These results are interpreted in terms of cavity-modified transitions between the Floquet states of a two-level atom.Striking aspects of these transitions are their small linewidth and an asymmetry between emission and absorption.