Coherent Control of an Atomic Collision in a Cavity

S. Osnaghi; P. Bertet; A. Auffeves; P. Maioli; M. Brune; J. M. Raimond; S. Haroche

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.037902

Coherent Control of an Atomic Collision in a Cavity

S. Osnaghi, P. Bertet, A. Auffeves, P. Maioli, M. Brune, J. M. Raimond, and S. Haroche

Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 037902 – Published 27 June 2001

Abstract

Following a recent proposal by S. B. Zheng and G. C. Guo [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2392 (2000)], we report an experiment in which two Rydberg atoms crossing a nonresonant cavity are entangled by coherent energy exchange. The process, mediated by the virtual emission and absorption of a microwave photon, is characterized by a collision mixing angle 4 orders of magnitude larger than for atoms colliding in free space with the same impact parameter. The final entangled state is controlled by adjusting the atom-cavity detuning. This procedure, essentially insensitive to thermal fields and to photon decay, opens promising perspectives for complex entanglement manipulations.

Received 21 March 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.037902

Authors & Affiliations

S. Osnaghi¹, P. Bertet¹, A. Auffeves¹, P. Maioli¹, M. Brune¹, J. M. Raimond¹, and S. Haroche^1,2

¹Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Département de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, F-75231, Paris Cedex 05, France
²Collège de France, 11 place Marcelin-Berthelot, F-75005 Paris, France