Light of Two Atoms in Free Space: Bunching or Antibunching?

Sebastian Wolf, Stefan Richter, Joachim von Zanthier, and Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler
Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 063603 – Published 13 February 2020

Abstract

Photon statistics divides light sources into three different categories, characterized by bunched, antibunched, or uncorrelated photon arrival times. Single atoms, ions, molecules, or solid state emitters display antibunching of photons, while classical thermal sources exhibit photon bunching. Here we demonstrate a light source in free space, where the photon statistics depends on the direction of observation, undergoing a continuous crossover between photon bunching and antibunching. We employ two trapped ions, observe their fluorescence under continuous laser light excitation, and record spatially resolved the autocorrelation function g(2)(τ) with a movable Hanbury Brown and Twiss detector. Varying the detector position we find a minimum value for antibunching, g(2)(0)=0.60(5) and a maximum of g(2)(0)=1.46(8) for bunching, demonstrating that this source radiates fundamentally different types of light alike. The observed variation of the autocorrelation function is understood in the Dicke model from which the observed maximum and minimum values can be modeled, taking independently measured experimental parameters into account.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 2 December 2019
  • Accepted 27 January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.063603

© 2020 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalQuantum Information, Science & Technology

Authors & Affiliations

Sebastian Wolf1,*,†, Stefan Richter2,3, Joachim von Zanthier2,3, and Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler1,†

  • 1QUANTUM, Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Staudingerweg 7, 55128 Mainz, Germany
  • 2Institut für Optik, Information und Photonik, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
  • 3Erlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Paul-Gordan-Straße 6, 91052 Erlangen, Germany

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 124, Iss. 6 — 14 February 2020

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×