dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaInterference of Resonance Fluorescence from two four-level atoms
| Authors | T. Wong, S. M. Tan, M. J. Collett, D. F. Walls |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/9611028 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9611028 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevA.55.1288 |
Abstract
In a recent experiment by Eichmann et al., polarization-sensitive measurements of the fluorescence from two four-level ions driven by a linearly polarized laser were made. Depending on the polarization chosen, different degrees of interference were observed. We carry out a theoretical and numerical study of this system, showing that the results can largely be understood by treating the atoms as independent radiators which are synchronized by the phase of the incident laser field. The interference and its loss may be described in terms of the difference between coherent and incoherent driving of the various atomic transitions in the steady-state. In the numerical simulations, which are carried out using the Monte Carlo wave function method, we remove the assumption that the atoms radiate independently and consider the photodetection process in detail. This allows us to see the total interference pattern build up from individual photodetections and also to see the effects of superfluorescence, which become important when the atomic separation is comparable to an optical wavelength. The results of the calculations are compared with the experiment. We also carry out simulations in the non steady-state regime and discuss the relationship between the visibility of the interference pattern and which-path considerations.
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"abstract": "In a recent experiment by Eichmann et al., polarization-sensitive\nmeasurements of the fluorescence from two four-level ions driven by a linearly\npolarized laser were made. Depending on the polarization chosen, different\ndegrees of interference were observed. We carry out a theoretical and numerical\nstudy of this system, showing that the results can largely be understood by\ntreating the atoms as independent radiators which are synchronized by the phase\nof the incident laser field. The interference and its loss may be described in\nterms of the difference between coherent and incoherent driving of the various\natomic transitions in the steady-state. In the numerical simulations, which are\ncarried out using the Monte Carlo wave function method, we remove the\nassumption that the atoms radiate independently and consider the photodetection\nprocess in detail. This allows us to see the total interference pattern build\nup from individual photodetections and also to see the effects of\nsuperfluorescence, which become important when the atomic separation is\ncomparable to an optical wavelength. The results of the calculations are\ncompared with the experiment. We also carry out simulations in the non\nsteady-state regime and discuss the relationship between the visibility of the\ninterference pattern and which-path considerations.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/9611028",
"authors": [
"T. Wong",
"S. M. Tan",
"M. J. Collett",
"D. F. Walls"
],
"categories": [
"physics.atom-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.55.1288",
"title": "Interference of Resonance Fluorescence from two four-level atoms",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9611028"
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