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Journal de Chimie Physique

Quantum interference effect between two atoms radiating a single photon

GR Freeman

Published Jan 1, 1997• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Atomic fluorescence that accompanies the photodissociation of Ca2 molecules is modulated in time. This modulation was attributed to an interference between the fields emitted by the two atoms [1,2]. The effect of radiative resonant coupling between the atoms was considered to be negligible. It was suggested that the modulation of emission is analogous to the interaction of a single photon with two slits. However, the present article demonstrates that radiative resonant coupling is the main cause of the modulation, and the effect is not analogous to the interaction of single, space-time separated photons with two slits.

DOI
10.1051/jcp/1997940210

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Atomic fluorescence that accompanies the photodissociation of Ca2 molecules is modulated in time. This modulation was attributed to an interference between the fields emitted by the two atoms [1,2]. The effect of radiative resonant coupling between the atoms was considered to be negligible. It was suggested that the modulation of emission is analogous to the interaction of a single photon with two slits. However, the present article demonstrates that radiative resonant coupling is the main cause of the modulation, and the effect is not analogous to the interaction of single, space-time separated photons with two slits.
We present experimental evidence for a modulation in the time-resolved atomic fluorescence light following the photodissociation of Ca2{\mathrm{Ca}}_{2}Ca2​ molecules by a pulsed laser. This modulation is due to an interference effect involving two atoms recoiling in opposite directions, while only one photon is emitted. The period of the modulation is equal to the time for the interatomic distance to increase by an optical wavelength.
We present a theoretical analysis of a previous experiment, in which a modulation in the time-resolved atomic fluorescence light following the photodissociation of Ca2 molecules by a pulsed laser was observed. First a calculation is performed on a simple model, involving two atoms coupled with the quantized radiation field. Then the validity of this model is discussed on molecular physics grounds. Finally, a quantitative analysis of the experiment is presented ; a good agreement is obtained if quasi-bound levels of the molecular ground state are taken into account.
The recent experiment by Grangier, Aspect, and Vigu\'e on interference in the emission from fragments of electronically photodissociated molecules is treated as a special case of cooperative fluorescence (CF) from products of various molecular processes. This general analysis relates time-resolved features of the CF to characteristics (such as orbital symmetry) of the dissociating parent molecule (PM) suggests various PM state preparations (including formation of subradiant states), and discusses the persistence of CF in systems of nonidentical fragments. The diagnostic potentialities of such studies are emphasized.
Second-order interference effects in the spontaneous emission by two identical two-level atoms, separated a distance apart and both initially excited, are considered. On the basis of the analysis in our previous paper published in 2004, within fourth-order perturbation, detailed analysis of the second-order quantum interference in the emitted field is made. The interference arises both from single-photon states and two-photon states owing to interferences between different decaying sequences. By detailed analysis we have found some cancellations between single-photon and two-photon interference terms, and an interpretation of this is given. The contributions from the single- and the two-photon states as well as the total interference are analysed numerically for various interatomic distances and times. The contribution from a two-photon state is mostly larger than that from a single-photon state except when the atomic electric dipole is large, in which case the two contributions can be comparable. It is shown that the emission patterns from the two interacting atoms provide more information on atom–atom correlations than the decay time evolution of the atomic states population does. The number of interference fringes and the distance between them depend on the interatomic distance in a similar fashion to Young's interference fringes.
Young's double-slit interference experiment is central to quantum mechanics. While it has been demonstrated that an array of atoms can produce interference in light, it is a fundamental question to ask whether a single atom can act as a double slit when prepared in a superposition of two separate positions. Cohen-Tannoudji et al. [Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Laser Spectroscopy, edited by M. Ducloy, E. Giacobino, and G. Camy (World Scientific, Singapore, 1992), pp. 3--14] showed that the cross section of the light scattered by a single atom is independent of the spatial separation. In this work, however, we show that when a single atom tunneling in a double well is coupled to an optical ring cavity, the interference phenomena arise if the tunneling rate is comparable to the cavity linewidth. Being driven by an external laser in the dispersive regime, the field emitted by the atom into the cavity exhibits an interference pattern when varying the double-well spacing. Super-Poissonian bunched light can also be generated near the destructive interference. Furthermore, we show that the atomic flux of the coherent tunneling motion generates directional cavity emission, which oscillates for many cycles before the decoherence of the atomic motion and the decay of the cavity photons. Our work opens ways to manipulate photons with controllable external states of atoms for quantum information applications and use cavity light as nondestructive measurements for many-body states of atomic systems.