dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA One-Atom Laser in a Regime of Strong Coupling
| Authors | J. McKeever, A. Boca, A. D. Boozer, J. R. Buck, H. J. Kimble |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0309199 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0309199 |
| Journal | Nature 425, 268-271 (2003), supplementary information available at http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v425/n6955/abs /nature01974_fs.html |
Abstract
Although conventional lasers operate with a large number of intracavity atoms, the lasing properties of a single atom in a resonant cavity have been theoretically investigated for more than a decade. Here we report the experimental realization of such a one-atom laser operated in a regime of strong coupling. Our experiment exploits recent advances in cavity quantum electrodynamics that allow one atom to be isolated in an optical cavity in a regime for which one photon is sufficient to saturate the atomic transition. In this regime the observed characteristics of the atom-cavity system are qualitatively different from those of the familiar many atom case. Specifically, we present measurements of intracavity photon number versus pump intensity that exhibit "thresholdless" behavior, and infer that the output flux from the cavity mode exceeds that from atomic fluorescence by more than tenfold. Observations of the second-order intensity correlation function demonstrate that our one-atom laser generates manifestly nonclassical light that exhibits both photon antibunching and sub-Poissonian photon statistics.
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"abstract": "Although conventional lasers operate with a large number of intracavity\natoms, the lasing properties of a single atom in a resonant cavity have been\ntheoretically investigated for more than a decade. Here we report the\nexperimental realization of such a one-atom laser operated in a regime of\nstrong coupling. Our experiment exploits recent advances in cavity quantum\nelectrodynamics that allow one atom to be isolated in an optical cavity in a\nregime for which one photon is sufficient to saturate the atomic transition. In\nthis regime the observed characteristics of the atom-cavity system are\nqualitatively different from those of the familiar many atom case.\nSpecifically, we present measurements of intracavity photon number versus pump\nintensity that exhibit \"thresholdless\" behavior, and infer that the output flux\nfrom the cavity mode exceeds that from atomic fluorescence by more than\ntenfold. Observations of the second-order intensity correlation function\ndemonstrate that our one-atom laser generates manifestly nonclassical light\nthat exhibits both photon antibunching and sub-Poissonian photon statistics.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0309199",
"authors": [
"J. McKeever",
"A. Boca",
"A. D. Boozer",
"J. R. Buck",
"H. J. Kimble"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"journal_ref": "Nature 425, 268-271 (2003), supplementary information available at\n http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v425/n6955/abs\n /nature01974_fs.html",
"title": "A One-Atom Laser in a Regime of Strong Coupling",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0309199"
},
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