The statistics of spontaneous photon emission times in single atom resonance fluorescence are investigated through the radiative cascade of the dressed atom. The delay function which gives the distribution of the delays between two successive emissions is calculated for a coherent as well as an incoherent laser excitation. For a two-level atom, various signals that reflect the fluorescence intensity (average value, photon counting, fluctuation spectrum, etc.) are reviewed by this method. For a three-level atom, this approach is applied to the analysis of the recently observed phenomenon of intermittent fluorescence and quantum jumps.>The statistics of spontaneous photon emission times in single atom resonance fluorescence are investigated through the radiative cascade of the dressed atom. The delay function which gives the distribution of the delays between two successive emissions is calculated for a coherent as well as an incoherent laser excitation. For a two-level atom, various signals that reflect the fluorescence intensity (average value, photon counting, fluctuation spectrum, etc.) are reviewed by this method. For a three-level atom, this approach is applied to the analysis of the recently observed phenomenon of intermittent fluorescence and quantum jumps.>

IEEE Journal of Quantum ElectronicsJul 1, 198845 citations

Photon antibunching and non-Poissonian fluorescence of a single three-level ion

Michael Schubert, Ingo Siemers, R. Blatt +2 more

The photon pair correlation in the laser-excited fluorescence of a single trapped and cooled ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ ion shows antibunching and, in addition, novel nonclassical phenomena absent in the fluorescence of two-level atoms. They include excessive transient values of the correlation caused by optical pumping, and temporally extended sub-Poissonian photon emission probability which arises from the transient excitation of nonabsorbing Raman coherence. The fluorescence also displays sub-Poissonian photon statistics.The photon pair correlation in the laser-excited fluorescence of a single trapped and cooled ${\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}$ ion shows antibunching and, in addition, novel nonclassical phenomena absent in the fluorescence of two-level atoms. They include excessive transient values of the correlation caused by optical pumping, and temporally extended sub-Poissonian photon emission probability which arises from the transient excitation of nonabsorbing Raman coherence. The fluorescence also displays sub-Poissonian photon statistics.

Physical Review LettersMay 18, 199274 citations

A Investigation of the Statistical Properties of Fluorescence from Single Atoms.

Theodore Hodapp

Jan 1, 19880 citations

Poisson, sub-Poisson, and Bose-Einstein statistics in three-level atoms

M. A. Finn, G. W. Greenlees, Jitendra Kumar +1 more

A single three-level atom with the ground state strongly coupled to an excited state and weakly coupled to a third intermediate state exhibits a telegraph signal of fluorescent emission when driven by laser light at the strong coupling frequency. The ``on'' periods correspond to normal resonance fluorescence, whereas the ``off'' periods correspond to the atom being ``shelved'' in the intermediate state. Such a system has interesting statistical properties. The photon statistics during the ``on'' periods correspond to two-level behavior and are close to Poisson in nature. However, the photon number distribution of a succession of ``on'' periods exhibits Bose-Einstein statistics. Thus the three-level system can exhibit both ``quiet'' and ``noisy'' behavior. The mathematical connection between the two cases is established, and an atomic beam experiment is described which records a mixture of the two statistical extremes. The composition of the mixture is varied, and the data are shown to be well represented by an analysis based upon the model developed.A single three-level atom with the ground state strongly coupled to an excited state and weakly coupled to a third intermediate state exhibits a telegraph signal of fluorescent emission when driven by laser light at the strong coupling frequency. The ``on'' periods correspond to normal resonance fluorescence, whereas the ``off'' periods correspond to the atom being ``shelved'' in the intermediate state. Such a system has interesting statistical properties. The photon statistics during the ``on'' periods correspond to two-level behavior and are close to Poisson in nature. However, the photon number distribution of a succession of ``on'' periods exhibits Bose-Einstein statistics. Thus the three-level system can exhibit both ``quiet'' and ``noisy'' behavior. The mathematical connection between the two cases is established, and an atomic beam experiment is described which records a mixture of the two statistical extremes. The composition of the mixture is varied, and the data are shown to be well represented by an analysis based upon the model developed.

Physical Review AJul 1, 19883 citations

The photon pair correlation in the laser-excited fluorescence of a single trapped and cooled

{\mathrm{Ba}}^{+}

ion shows antibunching and, in addition, novel nonclassical phenomena absent in the fluorescence of two-level atoms. They include excessive transient values of the correlation caused by optical pumping, and temporally extended sub-Poissonian photon emission probability which arises from the transient excitation of nonabsorbing Raman coherence. The fluorescence also displays sub-Poissonian photon statistics.