From Micromaser to Microlaser

John Maddox

Kyungwon An

Kyungwon An, Ramachandra Rao Dasari, Michael S. Feld

HERBERT WALTHER

In this paper the work on the one-atom-maser or micromaser is reviewed. This maser system is the most fundamental one where a single atom interacts with a single mode of a cavity. With this setup the generation process of non-classical light and other quantum phenomena can be investigated in detail. Furthermore a brief review of the microlaser work will be given where the phenomena of cavity quantum electrodynamics lead to a very low threshold of the laser system.

HERBERT WALTHER

Farhan Saif, Fam Le Kien, Muhammad Suhail Zubairy

We study the amplification of a resonant standing-wave light field due to the interaction with a beam of monovelocity two-level atoms moving in the Raman-Nath regime and in the Bragg regime. The atomic density is low so that, at most, one atom is inside the cavity at a time. This system is very similar to the well-known micromaser but it is operating in the optical region of the field frequencies. Therefore, the situation corresponds to a microlaser. Unlike the micromaser system, the momentum transfer between the atoms and photons in the microlaser essentially effects the center-of-mass motion of the atoms and the evolution of the field.