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Physical Review Letters

Observation of normal-mode splitting for an atom in an optical cavity

Robert J. Thompson, Gerhard Rempe, Harry J. Kimble

Published Feb 24, 1992• 1,028 citations
Publisher

Abstract

An investigation of the spectral response of a small collection of two-state atoms strongly coupled to the field of a high-finesse optical resonator is described for mean number N\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}\ensuremath{\le}10 atoms. For weak excitation, a coupling-induced normal-mode splitting is observed even for one intracavity atom, representing a direct spectroscopic measurement of the so-called vacuum Rabi splitting for the atom-cavity system.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.68.1132

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An investigation of the spectral response of a small collection of two-state atoms strongly coupled to the field of a high-finesse optical resonator is described for mean number N\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}\ensuremath{\le}10 atoms. For weak excitation, a coupling-induced normal-mode splitting is observed even for one intracavity atom, representing a direct spectroscopic measurement of the so-called vacuum Rabi splitting for the atom-cavity system.
The transmission spectrum for one atom strongly coupled to the field of a high finesse optical resonator is observed to exhibit a clearly resolved vacuum Rabi splitting characteristic of the normal modes in the eigenvalue spectrum of the atom-cavity system. A new Raman scheme for cooling atomic motion along the cavity axis enables a complete spectrum to be recorded for an individual atom trapped within the cavity mode, in contrast to all previous measurements in cavity QED that have required averaging over 10(3)-10(5) atoms.
Of fundamental importance in quantum optics has been the investigation of the radiative coupling of a collection of atoms to the field of a resonant cavity1. Within this context we are conducting a research program to investigate the interaction of optically prepared two-state atoms with the fields of high finesse optical cavities. With regard to our specific observations, we have employed a sodium atomic beam apparatus to make direct spectroscopic measurements of the normal-mode splitting for the coupled oscillator system formed by the collective atomic polarization of N two-state atoms and a single mode of a resonator of finesse of approximately 2x10⁴. At the transition wavelength of 589 nm (³, S_(1/2), F = 2, m_F = 2→3 P_(3/2), m_F = 3 and for one of our spherical mirror standing-wave cavities, the relevant parameters for the system are as follows: transverse atomic decay rate γ_⊥ = 2πX5X10⁶/S, cavity damping rate K/γ⊥= 0.18, and single-atom coupling coefficient g/γ_⊥ = 0.2.
We report on recent progress in our lab involving cavity quantum electrodynamics with optically trapped atoms. \n \nIn particular, we will focus on a recent measurement of the Vacuum-Rabi splitting for one atom strongly coupled to the field of a high finesse optical resonator. This splitting is characteristic of the normal modes in the eigenvalue spectrum of the atom-cavity system. A new Raman scheme for cooling atomic motion along the cavity axis enables a complete spectrum to be recorded for an individual atom trapped within the cavity mode, in contrast to all previous measurements in cavity QED that have required averaging over many atoms.
Experimental and theoretical investigations of the radiative processes of a collection of two-state atoms contained in a high-finesse optical cavity are reported. To make contact with previous work on this subject, we consider the usual regimens in which either the cavity or the atomic damping is dominant. However, of greater interest and relevance to our experiments is the regime of strong coupling that generates splittings and new features in the normal-mode structure of the composite atom-field system. We identify possible mechanisms for producing line shapes with subnatural linewidths. Our experimental investigations are conducted with two-state sodium atoms that interact with a single mode of an ultra-high-finesse optical cavity. The incoherent spectral density of the transmitted field is detected by optical heterodyne. We obtain good qualitative agreement between theory and experiment for the general features of the composite atom-field system as manifested in the spectral density of the transmitted field. Experiments to probe the response of the system to weak modulation of the incident field are in progress.
We report experimental measurements of the transmission spectrum of an optical cavity coupled with cold Rb atoms. We observe the multiatom vacuum Rabi splitting of a composite cavity and atom system. When a coupling field is applied to the atoms and induces the resonant two-photon Raman transition with the cavity field in a $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type system, we observe a cavity transmission spectrum with two vacuum Rabi sidebands and a central peak representing the intracavity dark state. The central peak linewidth is significantly narrowed by the dark-state resonance and its position is insensitive to the frequency change of the empty cavity.