Abstract
By tightly focusing a laser field onto a single cold ion trapped in front of a far-distant dielectric mirror, we could observe a quantum electrodynamic effect whereby the ion behaves as the optical mirror of a Fabry-Pérot cavity. We show that the amplitude of the laser field is significantly altered due to a modification of the electromagnetic mode structure around the atom in a novel regime in which the laser intensity is already changed by the atom alone. We propose a direct application of this system as a quantum memory for single photons.
- Received 25 May 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.133002
© 2011 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Mirror, Mirror in Free Space
Published 22 September 2011
A Fabry-Pérot cavity exhibits the same behavior when an atom replaces a mirror.
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