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Fortschritte der Physik

From Maser to Mazer

Oliver J. Benson, M. Weidinger, Markus Löffler, HERBERT WALTHER

Published Nov 1, 1998• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this paper we report on atomic interferometry in the micromaser. The experimentally observed interferences are due to the non-adiabatic mixing of dressed states of the atoms at the entrance and exit holes of the maser cavity, leading to Ramsey-type two-field interaction. The observations are explained on the basis of the micromaser theory. Statistical properties of the maser field are investigated via a measurement of the statistics of the pump atoms that leave the maser cavity. Theoretical expressions for the time dependence of the Fano-Mandel-parameter QA(t) are compared with the experimental data. We demonstrate, that metastability of the maser field and atomic interference strongly influence the approach to a steady state value of QA(t). Furthermore, a theoretical investigation of a maser pumped with ultra-cold atoms is discussed. The interplay between reflection and transmission events of the atoms leads to a photon emission probability that strongly depends on the quantized center-of-mass motion (z-motion) of the atoms. We demonstrate that this mazer operation can be completely different from the ordinary maser pumped by a beam of thermal atoms.

DOI
10.1002/(sici)1521-3978(199811)46:6/8<809::aid-prop809>3.0.co;2-u

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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Aug 13, 1999•10 citations
In this paper we report on atomic interferometry in the micromaser. The experimentally observed interferences are due to the non-adiabatic mixing of dressed states of the atoms at the entrance and exit holes of the maser cavity, leading to Ramsey-type two-field interaction. The observations are explained on the basis of the micromaser theory. Statistical properties of the maser field are investigated via a measurement of the statistics of the pump atoms that leave the maser cavity. Theoretical expressions for the time dependence of the Fano-Mandel-parameter QA(t) are compared with the experimental data. We demonstrate, that metastability of the maser field and atomic interference strongly influence the approach to a steady state value of QA(t). Furthermore, a theoretical investigation of a maser pumped with ultra-cold atoms is discussed. The interplay between reflection and transmission events of the atoms leads to a photon emission probability that strongly depends on the quantized center-of-mass motion (z-motion) of the atoms. We demonstrate that this mazer operation can be completely different from the ordinary maser pumped by a beam of thermal atoms.
In this paper we report on atomic interferometry in the micromaser. The atomic inversion is recorded while scanning the cavity frequency across the atomic resonance. For high pump rates, interference patterns are observed on the low-frequency wing of the maser line. The interferences are due to the non-adiabatic mixing of dressed states of the atoms at the entrance and exit holes of the maser cavity, leading to a Ramsey-type two-field interaction. Furthermore, statistical properties of the maser field are investigated via a measurement of the statistics of the pump atoms that leave the maser cavity. Theoretical expressions for the time dependence of the Fano–Mandel parameter Q A(t) are compared with the experimental data. We demonstrate, that metastability of the maser field and atomic interference strongly influence the approach to a steady-state value of Q A(t).
Atomic interferences are observed in the micromaser when the inversion of the atoms leaving the cavity is measured while the cavity frequency is scanned across the atomic resonance. The interferences are due to the nonadiabatic mixing of dressed states at the entrance and exit holes of the maser cavity. The interference structures are triangular shaped and approximately equidistant. They are associated with the dynamics of the atom-field interaction, show quantum jumps, and demonstrate bistability of the micromaser field.
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).
In this paper recent experiments with the one–atom maser or micromaser are reviewed. They deal with the dynamical behavior of the field at parameter values where the field undergoes phase transitions. Furthermore, atomic interferences are observed in the micromaser when the inversion of the atoms leaving the cavity is measured while the cavity frequency is scanned across the atomic resonance. The interferences are due to the non–adiabatic mixing of dressed states at the entrance and exit holes of the maser cavity. The interference structures are triangular shaped and approximately equidistant. They are associated with the dynamics of the atom–field interaction, show quantum jumps and demonstrate bistability of the micromaser field.
There are only fistful of systems in physics that can be described by an exact theory from first principles and, at the same time, can be investigated under experimental conditions approaching the idealized theoretical ones. The one-atom-maser or micromaser provides such an example, making a detailed study of the fundamental properties of the atom-field interaction possible. The situation realized in a micromaser is very close to the ideal case of a single two-level atom interacting with a single quantized mode of a cavity field. In the micromaser the atoms have a dual purpose of both pumping the field and also probing it via measurements of the outgoing atoms. Any other means of measuring the field inside the resonator has the detrimental effect of lowering its Q-factor and thereby the photon storage time. The long photon storage time of the resonator allows for the decay of the field to be negligible during the passage of an atom and its interaction with the field. The behavior of atoms in a cavity is governed by the oscillatory exchange of energy between the atoms and the field, which is called Rabi oscillation. For cavity fields in the vacuum and few photon number states (Fock states), Rabi oscillations have been measured in the past. To prevent thermal effects from polluting the pure number states these experiments were performed at low temperatures (below 1 K). However, the observed resolution of the Rabi oscillations measurements was quite disappointing (only about 2% of the predicted theoretical value) and precluded more ambitious experiments like atom-atom correlations or time resolved investigations of the maser field dynamics. The observed contrast of Rabi oscillations can be considered as a figure of merit for the experimental resolution of quantum features of a maser field. Therefore, a high resolution in the measurements of Rabi oscillations is crucial. This thesis describes the methods and improvements applied to enhance the resolution of Rabi oscillations by a factor of 8. The following upgrades and developments proved to be crucial in this work: 1) The base temperature of the cryogenic system was lowered to 0.3 K, i.e. one third of the original value. At the same time, the time during which the system remains at the base temperature was improved by almost of an order of magnitude (to more than 12 h). 2) For the promotion of the atoms to the Rydberg regime new three-step diode laser setup was constructed. The excitation efficiency compared to the old dye laser was increased by two orders. Using top-of-fringe stabilization with new spectroscopic methods, specially designed error detection and feedback schemes as well as state-of-the-art PID regulators the continuous locking of lasers is about 8 h (compared to about 20 min with the old dye laser system). 3) The flexibility of using the three step excitation allows to excite different maser states and for the first time to investigate pure maser transition. 4) Various improvements on the atomic oven and the channeltron detection unit led to the reliable and stable production and detection of the atomic beam. Observed distribution of the atomic beam statistics reaches to within 6% the Poisson limit which is expected in the absence of experimental imperfections. 5) New developed techniques in magnetic field compensation allow to perform such measurements with two orders of magnitude better accuracy compared to the previous experiments. To demonstrate the new capabilities of the apparatus and to apply its improved resolution of quantum fields we performed a previously impossible in-depth analysis of mean photon number and the atomic inversion produced by a micromaser for various detunings between the cavity- and atomic resonance frequency.
We derive the dressed states for the interaction of a cascade three-level atom with a quantum cavity field, suggest using ultra-cold cascade three-level atoms in micromasers, put forward the idea of the two-photon mazer, establish its general quantum theory and study its emission probability and photon statistics. We examine the effects of the atomic centre-of-mass momentum, the atom-field detuning, the photon number in thermal equilibrium, the ratio of the atomic injection rate to the cavity decay rate and the interaction length on the emission probability and the photon statistics.