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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

Interference and collective behavior in a small atomic system

Jason C. Robinson, F. L. Moore, Patrick R. Morrow, Peggy E. Williams, M.G. Raisen

Published May 1, 1993• 0 citations
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Abstract

Collective atomic behavior is studied theoretically for the case of two atoms coupled to a resonant optical cavity. Interference in the fluorescence from two atoms separated by a fixed distance is examined as a function of driving laser and cavity parameters. The fringe visibility, a measure of the coherence of the atomic radiation, is calculated for the system of two driven atoms and the cavity mode. In free space, as the atoms are ,driven towards saturation, the visibility drops due, to loss of coherence. The visibility goes from unity, at weak field, to 10% at saturation. Dramatic improvement in visibility is found in the presence of the atom-cavity coupling, with the largest enhancement at intermediate driving field. This result indicates that induced coherence is a sensitive measure of collective behavior. Our progress in the experimental realization of this system with laser cooled beryllium ions confined in a linear trap is described, and directions for future work are indicated.

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Collective atomic behavior is studied theoretically for the case of two atoms coupled to a resonant optical cavity. Interference in the fluorescence from two atoms separated by a fixed distance is examined as a function of driving laser and cavity parameters. The fringe visibility, a measure of the coherence of the atomic radiation, is calculated for the system of two driven atoms and the cavity mode. In free space, as the atoms are ,driven towards saturation, the visibility drops due, to loss of coherence. The visibility goes from unity, at weak field, to 10% at saturation. Dramatic improvement in visibility is found in the presence of the atom-cavity coupling, with the largest enhancement at intermediate driving field. This result indicates that induced coherence is a sensitive measure of collective behavior. Our progress in the experimental realization of this system with laser cooled beryllium ions confined in a linear trap is described, and directions for future work are indicated.
The study of collective atomic behavior is an important problem which has attracted much interest in recent years. Motivated by recent advances in ion trapping technology,1 and by a calculation of interference in the fluorescence from two atoms,2 we have investigated the effects of collective behavior on the interference fringe visibility. Interference in the fluorescence from two atoms separated by a fixed distance is examined as a function of driving laser and cavity parameters. The fringe visibility, a measure of the coherence of the atomic radiation, is calculated for the system of two driven atoms and the cavity mode. In free space, as the atoms are driven towards saturation, the visibility drops due to loss of coherence. The visibility goes from unity, at weak field, to 10% at saturation and falls off to zero asymptotically at higher fields. Dramatic improvement in visibility is found in the presence of the atom-cavity coupling, with the largest enhancement at intermediate driving field. This result indicates that induced coherence is a sensitive measure of collective behavior. Our progress in the experimental realization of this system with laser cooled beryllium ions confined in a linear trap is described, and directions for future work are indicated.
We study theoretically the interference of the resonance fluorescence from two atoms coupled to an optical cavity mode. Atom-atom correlations induced by the cavity alter the fringe visibility, which provides a measurement of collective atomic behavior. We use quantum trajectories to explain the loss of mutual coherence for strong excitation and propose a phase-selective measurement to partially restore the coherence. A ``which-path'' explanation for the loss of coherence is also discussed.
We study atomic coherence and interference in four-level atoms confined in an optical cavity and explores the interplay between cavity QED and electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The destructive interference can be induced in the coupled cavity-atom system with a free-space control laser tuned to the normal mode resonance and leads to suppression of the normal mode excitation. Then by adding a pump laser coupled to the four-level atoms from free space, the control-laser induced destructive interference can be reversed and the normal mode excitation is restored. When the free-space control laser is tuned to the atomic resonance and forms a Λ-type EIT configuration with the cavity-atom system, EIT is manifested as a narrow transmission peak of a weak probe laser coupled into the cavity mode. With the free-space pump laser driving the cavity-confined atoms in a four-level configuration, the narrow transmission peak of the cavity EIT can be split into two peaks and the dressed intra-cavity dark states are created analogous to the dressed states in free space. We report experimental studies of such coherently coupled cavity-atom system realized with cold Rb atoms confined in an optical cavity and discuss possible applications in quantum nonlinear optics and quantum information science.
We report an experimental study of the collective coupling of three-level atoms with a cavity mode and a free-space laser field. The measurement of the cavity transmission with a weak probe field coupled into the cavity mode reveals three spectral peaks: two sidebands and a central peak, which is produced by the coherent interaction of the free-space field with individual atoms and the collective interaction of the multiple atoms with the cavity mode. The experimental results agree with a simple calculation based on the classical light transmission through a cavity containing multiple atoms coherently driven by a free-space laser.
There is increasing interest in the photon statistics and spectroscopic properties of the radiation from atoms confined in an optical cavity. Effects such as the cavity enhancement and inhibition of spontaneous emission, which were first observed using microwave cavities, have recently been measured at optical frequencies.1 Recent measurements of squeezing and the dynamic effects of single-quantum-level splittings also demonstrate the possibilities for quantum-statistical studies of coupled atom-cavity systems at optical frequencies.2 We study a single two-level atom confined inside an optical cavity which is driven by coherent light in resonance with both cavity and atom. For weak driving field intensities we have calculated the spectrum of the light transmitted by the cavity and fluorescence out the sides of the cavity.
The interaction of laser cooled atoms with resonant light is determined by the natural linewidth of the excited state. An optical cavity is another optically resonant system where the loss from the cavity determines the resonant optical response of the system. The near resonant combination of an optical Fabry-Pérot cavity with laser cooled and trapped atoms couples two distinct optical resonators via light and has great potential for precision measurements and the creation of versatile quantum optics systems. Here we show how driven magneto-optically trapped atoms in collective strong coupling regime with the cavity leads to lasing at a frequency red detuned from the atomic transition. Lasing is demonstrated experimentally by the observation of a lasing threshold accompanied by polarization and spatial mode purity, and line-narrowing in the outcoupled light. Spontaneous emission into the cavity mode by the driven atoms stimulates lasing action, which is capable of operating as a continuous wave laser in steady state, without a seed laser. The system is modeled theoretically, and qualitative agreement with experimentally observed lasing is seen. Our result opens up a range of new measurement possibilities with this system.