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Physical Review A

Photon wave packets and spontaneous decay in a cavity

G. Alber

Published Nov 1, 1992• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A pure-state analysis of spontaneous emission of photons by a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator in a spherically symmetric cavity is presented. Using a classical path representation with respect to photon paths the transition between the limiting cases of coupling to a single cavity mode and the continuum limit is discussed analytically.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.46.r5338

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A pure-state analysis of spontaneous emission of photons by a one-dimensional harmonic oscillator in a spherically symmetric cavity is presented. Using a classical path representation with respect to photon paths the transition between the limiting cases of coupling to a single cavity mode and the continuum limit is discussed analytically.
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We present a nonperturbative result for the spectrum of spontaneous photons emitted by an atom coupled on resonance to a standing-wave cavity mode. Motion of the atom through the standing-wave mode function is included in a classical way. We discuss the form of the spectrum as a function of the velocity of the atom in the limit of strong dipole coupling. For slow atoms the normal-mode doublet (``vacuum'' Rabi spectrum) survives with small changes. The motion of a fast atom through the standing wave averages the coupling constant to zero, and the spectrum reverts to a single peak. At intermediate velocities the spectrum has a complicated multipeaked structure that can be understood in terms of interfering probability amplitudes for different quantum-mechanical emission paths or as a frequency-modulation spectrum for radiating coupled oscillators.
A quantum theory of spontaneous emission from an initially excited two-level atom in a one-dimensional optical cavity with output coupling from both sides is developed. Orthonormal mode functions with a continuous spectrum are employed, which are derived by imposing a periodic boundary condition on the whole space with a period much larger than the cavity length. The delay differential equation of the atomic state of Cook and Milonni [Phys. Rev. A 35, 5081 (1987)] is re-derived in a strict manner, where the reflectivity of the cavity mirrors is included naturally in the mode functions. An approximate solution at a single-resonant-mode limit shows the results of ``vacuum'' Rabi oscillation in an underdamped cavity and enhanced spontaneous emission rate in an overdamped cavity. For the latter case, it is found that in the optical range the spontaneous emission rate is enhanced by a factor F (finesse of the cavity).
For pt.IV see J. Phys. Soc. Japan, vol.47, p.217-224 (1982). Spontaneous emission in a lossy one-dimensional cavity is analyzed under the perturbation approximation and the Wigner-Weisskopf approximation. The cavity loss due to output coupling is treated quantum mechanically by the use of a set of continuously distributed radiation modes. The enhancement and reduction factors in the spontaneous emission probability due to the presence of the cavity structure are derived. Interesting transients in spontaneous emission during a time of the order of the cavity decay time are predicted, which leads to an interpretation of the enhancement or the reduction in spontaneous emission in terms of feedback and self-interference effects. The detection of the emitted photon by a detector atom outside the cavity is also discussed.>
The spontaneous emission spectrum from two quantum dots (QDs) that are strongly coupled with a single-mode nanocavity is investigated using rigorous numerical calculations and simple analytical solutions of quantum dynamics. The emission spectra both from the side and along the axis of the cavity are considered. Modification of two parameters, the coupling strength and the detuning between the transition frequencies of the two quantum dots, allows us to efficiently control the shape of the spontaneous emission spectrum. Different profiles and their physical origins can be well understood in the dressed-state picture for the light—QD interaction in the on-resonance and off-resonance situations. In the on-resonance situation, the emission spectra exhibit symmetric features, and they are not altered by the asymmetry in the coupling parameters. The axis spectra show two emission peaks while the side spectra have three emission peaks. In the off-resonance situation, the emission spectra always show an asymmetrical three-peak feature. When the two QDs have different decay parameters, singular features (a peak or a dip) can take place at the frequency of the cavity mode, and this is attributed to the unbalanced process of the emission and absorption of a single photon.
The problem of a single two level atom in its excited state, placed in a cavity in which no photons are present initially, and interacting with N modes of the electromagnetic field is solved exactly in the electric dipole, rotating wave approximation. Expressions for the energy eigenvalues and eigenvectors are derived, and an exact representation for the time dependent wavefunction of the system is given. These quantities are evaluated analytically for N=1,2 and 3, and the time dependent properties of the system for these values of N are investigated and discussed.