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Physical Review Letters

Young’s interference experiment with light scattered from two atoms

U. Eichmann, Jonas Bergquist, J. J. Bollinger, Jonathan Magnolia Gilligan, W. M. Itano, David J. Wineland, Mark G. Raizen

Published Apr 19, 1993• 293 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the first observation of interference effects in the light scattered from two trapped atoms. The visibility of the fringes can be explained in the framework of Bragg scattering by a harmonic crystal and simple ``which path'' considerations of the scattered photons. If the light scattered by the atoms is detected in a polarization-sensitive way, then it is possible to selectively demonstrate either the particle nature or the wave nature of the scattered light.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.70.2359

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We report the first observation of interference effects in the light scattered from two trapped atoms. The visibility of the fringes can be explained in the framework of Bragg scattering by a harmonic crystal and simple ``which path'' considerations of the scattered photons. If the light scattered by the atoms is detected in a polarization-sensitive way, then it is possible to selectively demonstrate either the particle nature or the wave nature of the scattered light.
We have observed interference fringes, like those in Young’s classic experiment, in the laser light scattered by two trapped atoms. The interference fringes are present only in one polarization of the scattered light. The polarization dependence is related to the complementarity principle, which forbids the simultaneous observation of wave-like and particle-like aspects of light. The interference fringes are due to processes in which a single photon scatters from two atoms. We describe methods which might be used to observe other interference eects due to two photons scattering from two atoms.
We observe interference in the light scattered from trapped ^{40}Ca^{+} ion crystals. By varying the intensity of the excitation laser, we study the influence of elastic and inelastic scattering on the visibility of the fringe pattern and discriminate its effect from that of the ion temperature and wave-packet localization. In this way we determine the complex degree of coherence and the mutual coherence of light fields produced by individual atoms. We obtain interference fringes from crystals consisting of two, three, and four ions in a harmonic trap. Control of the trapping potential allows for the adjustment of the interatomic distances and thus the formation of linear arrays of atoms serving as a regular grating of microscopic scatterers.
The interference pattern of the resonance fluorescence from a J=1/2J=1/2J=1/2 to J=1/2J=1/2J=1/2 transition of two identical atoms confined in a three-dimensional harmonic potential is calculated. The thermal motion of the atoms is included. Agreement is obtained with experiments [U. Eichmann et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2359 (1993)]. Contrary to some theoretical predictions, but in agreement with the present calculations, a fringe visibility greater than 50% can be observed with polarization-selective detection. The dependence of the fringe visibility on polarization has a simple interpretation, based on whether or not it is possible in principle to determine which atom emitted the photon.
Young's double slit experiment has often been used to illustrate the concept of complementarity in quantum mechanics. If information can in principle be obtained about the path of the photon, then the visibility of the interference fringes is reduced or even destroyed. This Gedanken experiment discussed by Bohr and Einstein can be realized when the slit is replaced by individual atoms sensitive to the transferred recoil momentum of a photon which "passes through the slit". Early pioneering experiments were done with trapped ions and atom pairs created via photo-dissociation. Recently, it became possible to perform interference experiments with single neutral atoms cooled to the absolute ground state of a harmonic oscillator potential. The slits are now single atoms representing a two-level system, and the excitation in the harmonic oscillator potential is the which-way marker. In this note, we analyze and generalize two recent experiments performed with single atoms and emphasize the different ways they record which-way information.
We propose for the experimental verification of an inequality concerning wave-particle duality by Englert [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 2154 (1996)] relating (or setting) an upper limit on distinguishability and visibility in a two-way interferometer. The inequality, quantifies the concept of wave-particle duality. The considered two-way interferometer is a Young's double-slit experiment involving two four-level atoms and is a slightly modified version of that of the recent experiment by Eichmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2359 (1993)]. The fringe visibility depends on the detected polarization direction of the scattered light and a read out of the internal state of one of the two atoms provides a partial which-way information.
Abstract The reconciliation of wave-like optical interference phenomena with the particle-like properties of the quantized radiation field has intrigued physicists since the early years of the present century. Two main topics of discussion have been the effect of very low light levels-of the order of one photon at a time in the interferometer-on the interference fringes, and the possibility of determining which of the two optical paths through the interferometer were taken by the photons that produce the fringes. The first experiment with very low light levels was performed by Taylor (1909) at the instigation of J. J. Thomson. He found that Young’s interference fringes persisted when the low light levels were compensated by long photographic exposure times.