Cavity quantum electrodynamics of a Bose–Einstein condensate

Ferdinand Brennecke, Tobias Donner, Stephan Ritter +3 more

Anton Öttl, Stephan Ritter, Michael Köhl +1 more

Author: Öttl, Anton et al.; Genre: Journal Article; Issued: 2006-06-30; Title: Hybrid apparatus for Bose-Einstein condensation and cavity quantum electrodynamics: Single atom detection in quantum degenerate gases

Pierre Meystre, Murray Sargent

S. Haroche, J. M. Raimond

Aranya B. Bhattacherjee, Tarun Kumar

The Bose Statistics were first predicted by the Indian Physicist Satyendra Nath Bose in 1924. Later in 1925, Einstein extended the work of Bose to non-interacting particles.The resulting statistics that came out of the work of Bose and Einstein is known as Bose-Einstein Statistics. It took researchers and scientists nearly 70 years to create the first Bose-Einstein Condensate in the laboratory in 1995. Ever since the discovery of BEC, research in this field has flourished very rapidly both theoretically and experimentally. Discovery of BEC has initiated some new topics such as atom optics, atom interferometry, quantum computation, Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics of BEC, precision measurement, low dimensional physics etc.This book explores some of the exciting new developments in a field, which combines Bose-Einstein Condensates and Optical cavities.Particularly, we show how the transmission spectroscopy can be utilized to measure the properties of the BEC in the optical cavity.

Anton Öttl, Stephan Ritter, Michael Köhl +1 more

We present and characterize an experimental system in which we achieve the integration of an ultrahigh finesse optical cavity with a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The conceptually novel design of the apparatus for the production of BECs features nested vacuum chambers and an in vacuo magnetic transport configuration. It grants large scale spatial access to the BEC for samples and probes via a modular and exchangeable “science platform.” We are able to produce Rb87 condensates of 5×106 atoms and to output couple continuous atom lasers. The cavity is mounted on the science platform on top of a vibration isolation system. The optical cavity works in the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics and serves as a quantum optical detector for single atoms. This system enables us to study atom optics on a single particle level and to further develop the field of quantum atom optics. We describe the technological modules and the operation of the combined BEC cavity apparatus. Its performance is characterized by single atom detection measurements for thermal and quantum degenerate atomic beams. The atom laser provides a fast and controllable supply of atoms coupling with the cavity mode and allows for an efficient study of atom field interactions in the strong coupling regime. Moreover, the high detection efficiency for quantum degenerate atoms distinguishes the cavity as a sensitive and weakly invasive probe for cold atomic clouds.