Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review Letters

Induced Emission due to the Quantized Motion of Ultracold Atoms Passing through a Micromaser Cavity

Marlan O. Scully, Georg M. Meyer, HERBERT WALTHER

Published May 27, 1996• 131 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The abrupt change in the atom-field coupling strength which an atom experiences upon passing into and out of a micromaser cavity leads to changes in the atomic center-of-mass motion. For fast (thermal) atoms, small momentum changes give rise to stimulated emission. Very slow (laser-cooled) atoms, however, can be reflected from or tunnel through the cavity, and in the process undergo a new kind of induced emission. This changes the photon statistics of the micromaser completely. Resonances occur for particular values of the interaction length.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.76.4144

Related papers

Reflecting Slow Atoms from a Micromaser Field

Berthold‐Georg Englert, Julian Schwinger, A. O. Barut +1 more

Excited atoms incident upon the entrance port of a maser cavity will be reflected half of the time, if the atoms are slow enough, even when the maser field is in its vacuum state. This happens because the interaction strength, between the atom and the maser field, changes strongly when passing from the exterior to the interior of the cavity.

Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Jan 1, 1991•148 citations

Cavity quantum electrodynamics

Partha Ghose

Introduction Ever since 1916/17 when Einstein argued [45] [46] that spontaneous emission must occur if matter and radiation are to achieve thermal equilibrium, physicists have believed that spontaneous emission is an inherent quantum mechanical property of atoms and that excited atoms inevitably radiate. This view, however, overlooks the fact that spontaneous emission is a consequence of the coupling of quantized energy states of atoms with the quantized radiation field, and is a manifestation of quantum noise or of emission ‘stimulated’ by ‘vacuum fluctuations’. An infinity of vacuum states is available to the photon radiated by an excited atom placed in free space, leading to the effective irreversibility of such emissions. If these vacuum states are modified, as for example by placing an excited atom between closely spaced mirrors or in a small cavity (essentially the Casimir effect), spontaneous emission can be greatly inhibited or enhanced or even made reversible. Recent advances in atomic and optical techniques have made it possible to control and manipulate spontaneous emission. A whole new branch of quantum optics called ‘cavity QED’ has developed since 1987 utilizing these dramatic changes in spontaneous emission rates in cavities to construct new kinds of microscopic masers or micromasers that operate with a single atom and a few photons or with photons emitted in pairs in a two-photon transition.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Apr 29, 1999•0 citations

Mazer action. A new kind of induced emission

Marlan O. Scully

The abrupt change in the atom-field coupling strength which an atom experiences upon passing into and out of a micromaser cavity leads to changes in the atomic center-of-motion. Very slow (laser-cooled) atoms, however, can be reflected from or tunnel through the cavity, and in the process undergo a new kind of induced emission.

Nonlinear Optics•Nov 27, 2002•2 citations

Localized decay of excited atoms in cavities

Yonathan Japha, Gershon Kurizki, V. M. Akulin

Spontaneous decay of excited cold atoms into cavity can drastically affect their translational dynamics, namely, atomic reflection, transmission or localization in the cavity.

Optics Express•Sep 15, 1997•0 citations

Quantum theory of the mazer. I. General theory

Georg M. Meyer, Marlan O. Scully, HERBERT WALTHER

The photon emission probability in a micromaser changes drastically when the kinetic energy of the pumping atoms is comparable to the atom-field interaction energy. In this situation, the atomic center-of-mass motion has to be treated quantum mechanically and the de Broglie wavelength of the atom inside the cavity is an important physical parameter. The interplay between reflection and transmission of the atoms leads to a new mechanism for induced emission. A photon is emitted by an excited atom when the de Broglie wavelength fits resonantly into the cavity. These resonances lead to the process of microwave amplification via $z$-motion-induced emission of radiation (mazer). We derive and illustrate a general expression for the emission probability and a master equation for the mazer. We note that the probability for emission by an excited thermal atom (stimulated maser emission) is very different from the emission probability as given by the de Broglie resonances (induced mazer emission).

Physical Review A•Nov 1, 1997•95 citations

Photon emission probability of many ultracold two-level atoms in a micromaser cavity

Fuli Li, Zhen Yang, Jun-Tao Zhang

Physics Letters A•Mar 1, 2003•0 citations
The abrupt change in the atom-field coupling strength which an atom experiences upon passing into and out of a micromaser cavity leads to changes in the atomic center-of-mass motion. For fast (thermal) atoms, small momentum changes give rise to stimulated emission. Very slow (laser-cooled) atoms, however, can be reflected from or tunnel through the cavity, and in the process undergo a new kind of induced emission. This changes the photon statistics of the micromaser completely. Resonances occur for particular values of the interaction length.
Introduction Ever since 1916/17 when Einstein argued [45] [46] that spontaneous emission must occur if matter and radiation are to achieve thermal equilibrium, physicists have believed that spontaneous emission is an inherent quantum mechanical property of atoms and that excited atoms inevitably radiate. This view, however, overlooks the fact that spontaneous emission is a consequence of the coupling of quantized energy states of atoms with the quantized radiation field, and is a manifestation of quantum noise or of emission ‘stimulated’ by ‘vacuum fluctuations’. An infinity of vacuum states is available to the photon radiated by an excited atom placed in free space, leading to the effective irreversibility of such emissions. If these vacuum states are modified, as for example by placing an excited atom between closely spaced mirrors or in a small cavity (essentially the Casimir effect), spontaneous emission can be greatly inhibited or enhanced or even made reversible. Recent advances in atomic and optical techniques have made it possible to control and manipulate spontaneous emission. A whole new branch of quantum optics called ‘cavity QED’ has developed since 1987 utilizing these dramatic changes in spontaneous emission rates in cavities to construct new kinds of microscopic masers or micromasers that operate with a single atom and a few photons or with photons emitted in pairs in a two-photon transition.
The photon emission probability in a micromaser changes drastically when the kinetic energy of the pumping atoms is comparable to the atom-field interaction energy. In this situation, the atomic center-of-mass motion has to be treated quantum mechanically and the de Broglie wavelength of the atom inside the cavity is an important physical parameter. The interplay between reflection and transmission of the atoms leads to a new mechanism for induced emission. A photon is emitted by an excited atom when the de Broglie wavelength fits resonantly into the cavity. These resonances lead to the process of microwave amplification via zzz-motion-induced emission of radiation (mazer). We derive and illustrate a general expression for the emission probability and a master equation for the mazer. We note that the probability for emission by an excited thermal atom (stimulated maser emission) is very different from the emission probability as given by the de Broglie resonances (induced mazer emission).