Abstract
We report on the observation of cooperative radiation of exactly two neutral atoms strongly coupled to the single mode field of an optical cavity, which is close to the lossless-cavity limit. Monitoring the cavity output power, we observe constructive and destructive interference of collective Rayleigh scattering for certain relative distances between the two atoms. Because of cavity backaction onto the atoms, the cavity output power for the constructive two-atom case () is almost equal to the single-emitter case (), which is in contrast to free-space where one would expect an scaling of the power. These effects are quantitatively explained by a classical model as well as by a quantum mechanical model based on Dicke states. We extract information on the relative phases of the light fields at the atom positions and employ advanced cooling to reduce the jump rate between the constructive and destructive atom configurations. Thereby we improve the control over the system to a level where the implementation of two-atom entanglement schemes involving optical cavities becomes realistic.
- Received 26 August 2014
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.023601
© 2015 American Physical Society
Synopsis
A Cavity Just for Two
Published 14 January 2015
Two groups have independently isolated two atoms in a single cavity and measured that the collective light output is not simply the sum of single emitters.
See more in Physics