Europhysics Letters (EPL)
Two-dimensional localization of an atom with sub-half-wavelength spatial resolution via coherently controlled spontaneous emission
Shuo Hua, Xiangqian Jiang
Abstract
We propose a scheme for two-dimensional sub-half-wavelength atom localization using two lasers with equal frequencies, and obtain the analytical expression of conditional position probability (CPP) using a spontaneous-emission spectrum for a four-level atom which passes through two-dimensional orthogonal standing-wave fields. The quantum interference effect between two decay channels leads to extreme spectral narrowing and quenching of spontaneous emission in some regions of the standing-wave field, which results in the appearance of a high-spatial-resolution localization peak. The two-dimensional sub-half-wavelength atom localization is obtained with high precision and high spatial resolution by adjusting the relative phase and detuning.