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Laser Physics

Two-photon correlation of radiation emitted by two excited atoms: Detailed analysis of a dicke problem

C. H. Raymond Ooi, Yuri V. Rostovtsev, Marlan O. Scully

Published Jul 1, 2007• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A radiative interaction in a collective two-atom system forms subradiant and superradiant states when the distance between neighboring atoms is less than half a wavelength of resonant radiation. We calculate the G (2) function depending on the atomic separation and detection angle and show that it oscillates with a time delay between two successively emitted photons. These oscillations are the signature of coherent effects due to the periodic emission and absorption of photons by each atom.

DOI
10.1134/s1054660x07070092

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Coherent effects on two-photon correlation and directional emission of two two-level atoms

C. H. Raymond Ooi, Byung‐Gyu Kim, Hai-Woong Lee

Sub- and superradiant dynamics of spontaneously decaying atoms are manifestations of collective many-body systems. We study the internal dynamics and the radiation properties of two atoms in free space. Interesting results are obtained when the atoms are separated by less than half a wavelength of the atomic transition, where the dipole-dipole interaction gives rise to new coherent effects, such as (a) coherence between two intermediate collective states, (b) oscillations in the two-photon correlation ${G}^{(2)}$, (c) emission of two photons by one atom, and (d) the loss of directional correlation. We compare the population dynamics during the two-photon emission process with the dynamics of single-photon emission in the cases of a $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ and a V scheme. We compute the temporal correlation and angular correlation of two successively emitted photons using the ${G}^{(2)}$ for different values of atomic separation. We find antibunching when the atomic separation is a quarter wavelength $\ensuremath{\lambda}∕4$. Oscillations in the temporal correlation provide a useful feature for measuring subwavelength atomic separation. Strong directional correlation between two emitted photons is found for atomic separation larger than a wavelength. We also compare the directionality of a photon spontaneously emitted by the two atoms prepared in phased-symmetric and phased-antisymmetric entangled states ${\ensuremath{\mid}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}⟩}_{{\mathbf{k}}_{0}}={e}^{i{\mathbf{k}}_{0}∙{\mathbf{r}}_{1}}\ensuremath{\mid}{a}_{1},{b}_{2}⟩\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{e}^{i{\mathbf{k}}_{0}∙{\mathbf{r}}_{2}}\ensuremath{\mid}{b}_{1},{a}_{2}⟩$ by a laser pulse with wave vector ${\mathbf{k}}_{0}$. Photon emission is directionally suppressed along ${\mathbf{k}}_{0}$ for the phased-antisymmetric state. The directionality ceases for interatomic distances less than $\ensuremath{\lambda}∕2$.

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Signatures of cooperative emission in photon coincidence: Superradiance versus measurement-induced cooperativity

Moritz Cygorek, Eleanor Scerri, Ted Silva Santana +3 more

Indistinguishable quantum emitters confined to length scales smaller than the wavelength of the light become superradiant. Compared to uncorrelated and distinguishable emitters, superradiance results in qualitative modifications of optical signals such as photon coincidences. However, recent experiments revealed that similar signatures can also be obtained in situations where emitters are too far separated to be superradiant if correlations between emitters are induced by the wave-function collapse during an emission-angle-selective photon detection event. Here, we compare two sources for cooperative emission, superradiance and measurement-induced cooperativity, and analyze their impact on time-dependent optical signals. We find that an antidip in photon coincidences at zero time delay is a signature of interemitter correlations in general but does not unambiguously prove the presence of superradiance. This suggests that photon coincidences at zero time delay alone are not sufficient and time-dependent data are necessary to clearly demonstrate a superradiant enhancement of the spontaneous radiative decay rate.

arXiv:2208.06258•Physical Review A•Feb 17, 2023•21 citations
A radiative interaction in a collective two-atom system forms subradiant and superradiant states when the distance between neighboring atoms is less than half a wavelength of resonant radiation. We calculate the G (2) function depending on the atomic separation and detection angle and show that it oscillates with a time delay between two successively emitted photons. These oscillations are the signature of coherent effects due to the periodic emission and absorption of photons by each atom.
Sub- and superradiant dynamics of spontaneously decaying atoms are manifestations of collective many-body systems. We study the internal dynamics and the radiation properties of two atoms in free space. Interesting results are obtained when the atoms are separated by less than half a wavelength of the atomic transition, where the dipole-dipole interaction gives rise to new coherent effects, such as (a) coherence between two intermediate collective states, (b) oscillations in the two-photon correlation G(2){G}^{(2)}G(2), (c) emission of two photons by one atom, and (d) the loss of directional correlation. We compare the population dynamics during the two-photon emission process with the dynamics of single-photon emission in the cases of a $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ and a V scheme. We compute the temporal correlation and angular correlation of two successively emitted photons using the G(2){G}^{(2)}G(2) for different values of atomic separation. We find antibunching when the atomic separation is a quarter wavelength $\ensuremath{\lambda}∕4$. Oscillations in the temporal correlation provide a useful feature for measuring subwavelength atomic separation. Strong directional correlation between two emitted photons is found for atomic separation larger than a wavelength. We also compare the directionality of a photon spontaneously emitted by the two atoms prepared in phased-symmetric and phased-antisymmetric entangled states ${\ensuremath{\mid}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}⟩}_{{\mathbf{k}}_{0}}={e}^{i{\mathbf{k}}_{0}∙{\mathbf{r}}_{1}}\ensuremath{\mid}{a}_{1},{b}_{2}⟩\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{e}^{i{\mathbf{k}}_{0}∙{\mathbf{r}}_{2}}\ensuremath{\mid}{b}_{1},{a}_{2}⟩$ by a laser pulse with wave vector k0{\mathbf{k}}_{0}k0​. Photon emission is directionally suppressed along k0{\mathbf{k}}_{0}k0​ for the phased-antisymmetric state. The directionality ceases for interatomic distances less than $\ensuremath{\lambda}∕2$.
Fully-excited two-level atoms separated by less than the transition wavelength cooperatively emit light in a short burst, a phenomenon called superradiance by R. Dicke in 1954. The burst is characterized by a maximum intensity scaling with the square of the number of atoms NNN and a temporal width reduced by NNN compared to the single atom spontaneous decay time. Both effects are usually attributed to a synchronization of the electric dipole moments of the atoms occurring during the process of light emission. Contrary to this explanation, it was recently shown by use of a quantum path description that the peak intensity results from the quantum correlations among the atoms when occupying symmetric Dicke states. Here we investigate from this perspective the temporal evolution of the ensemble, starting in the small sample limit, i.e., when the atoms have mutual separations much smaller than the transition wavelength λλλ and pass down the ladder of symmetric Dicke states. In addition, we explore the temporal evolution for the case of non-interacting atoms with mutual separations much larger than λλλ. We show that in this case a similar superradiant burst of the emitted radiation is observed if the quantum correlations of the atoms are generated by conditional photon measurements retaining the atomic ensemble within or close to the symmetric subspace.
Fully excited two-level atoms separated by less than the transition wavelength cooperatively emit light in a short burst, a phenomenon called superradiance by R. Dicke in 1954 [Phys. Rev. 93, 99 (1954)]. The burst is characterized by a maximum intensity scaling with the square of the number of atoms NNN and a temporal width reduced by NNN compared to the single atom spontaneous decay time. Both effects are usually attributed to a synchronization of the electric dipole moments of the atoms occurring during the process of light emission. Contrary to this explanation, it was recently shown by use of a quantum path description that the peak intensity results from the quantum correlations among the atoms when occupying symmetric Dicke states. Here we investigate from this perspective the temporal evolution of the ensemble, starting in the small sample limit, i.e., when the atoms have mutual separations much smaller than the transition wavelength $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ and pass down the ladder of symmetric Dicke states. In addition, we explore the temporal evolution for the case of distant noninteracting atoms with mutual separations much larger than $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. We show that in this case a similar superradiant burst of the emitted radiation is observed if the quantum correlations of the atoms are generated by conditional photon measurements retaining the atomic ensemble within or close to the symmetric subspace.
Using the formalism developed earlier, we treat spontaneous emission from a pair of identical two-level atoms A1{A}_{1}A1​, A2{A}_{2}A2​, whose separation r21{r}_{21}r21​ can be comparable to the wavelength $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. We obtain expressions for time-dependent intensities and damping rates with the initial conditions (a) both atoms inverted, (b) prior excitation by a short $\frac{1}{2}\ensuremath{\pi}$ pulse, and (c) only A1{A}_{1}A1​ inverted. The results in (a) are compared with those obtained for a model consisting of two initially excited harmonic oscillators O1{O}_{1}O1​, O2{O}_{2}O2​. The atoms exhibit superradiant behavior, whereas O1{O}_{1}O1​, O2{O}_{2}O2​ tend to trap radiation. In (a), the intensity pattern $\mathcal{R}(\ensuremath{\theta},t)$ develops lobes in different directions at different times, so that the spatial distribution of photons at time $t\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$ is the same as in the independent-atom case ${r}_{21}\ensuremath{\gg}\ensuremath{\lambda}$. For the oscillators, the lobes of $\mathcal{R}(\ensuremath{\theta},t)$ do not change direction, but only become more pronounced as time increases. In (b) and (c), the lobes oscillate back and forth at frequency $2{\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{12}$ corresponding to the shifts $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{12}$ of the triplet and singlet states due to the ${A}_{1}\ensuremath{-}{A}_{2}$ interaction. The intensity can therefore have a sinusoidal component. Field correlation functions calculated for (a) and (c) show that A2{A}_{2}A2​ and A2{A}_{2}A2​ radiate simultaneously around the frequencies $\ensuremath{\epsilon}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}{\ensuremath{\Omega}}_{12}$, where $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ is the single-atom resonant frequency. The spectrum is calculated for case (c), and shows the effects of coherent linewidth enhancement in addition to the frequency shifts.
Photon statistics are obtained from exact closed-form solutions for both spontaneous and stimulated coherent emissions by a large number of two-level atoms in a Dicke state. Depending on the initial excitation level of the atoms, three types of photon statistics are obtained for the emitted radiation field. Moments of the photon number of the emitted field are calculated in the case of initial atomic coherent states as well as Dicke states, and in the case of n-photon stimulating pulses as well as coherent stimulating pulses. In the particular case of an initial "superradiant" Dicke state stimulated by a coherent-radiation field, the emitted radiation pulse is also fully coherent. In other cases the photon distributions undergo large fluctuations.
Indistinguishable quantum emitters confined to length scales smaller than the wavelength of the light become superradiant. Compared to uncorrelated and distinguishable emitters, superradiance results in qualitative modifications of optical signals such as photon coincidences. However, recent experiments revealed that similar signatures can also be obtained in situations where emitters are too far separated to be superradiant if correlations between emitters are induced by the wave-function collapse during an emission-angle-selective photon detection event. Here, we compare two sources for cooperative emission, superradiance and measurement-induced cooperativity, and analyze their impact on time-dependent optical signals. We find that an antidip in photon coincidences at zero time delay is a signature of interemitter correlations in general but does not unambiguously prove the presence of superradiance. This suggests that photon coincidences at zero time delay alone are not sufficient and time-dependent data are necessary to clearly demonstrate a superradiant enhancement of the spontaneous radiative decay rate.