Forces and spatial ordering of driven atoms in a resonator in the regime of fluorescence suppression

An atom in a high-Q cavity, which is coherently driven at the frequency of a cavity mode, exhibits strong suppression of fluorescence when the atomic decay rate exceeds the cavity linewidth. This effect is due to destructive interference of cavity and pump field, such that at the atomic position the total field intensity has a local minimum. For atomic ensembles the magnitude of the interference effect grows with atom number and depends on the relative atomic positions. It is strongest for a wavelength spaced array of atoms placed at the antinodes of the cavity mode. This suppresses fluorescence and enhanced collective scattering into the cavity mode. We analyze the mechanical forces in the regime where the interference condition is fulfilled. We show that the atomic pattern is mechanically stable whenever the driving frequency is red detuned with respect to the cavity frequency, irrespective of the atomic transition frequency. Hence atomic selforganization, as predicted in [6] can also occur in the parameter regime where superradiant scattering is suppressed by collective interference. PACS 32.80.Pj; 42.50.Pq; 42.50.Fx     

Determination of the number of atoms trapped in an optical cavity

The number of atoms trapped within the mode of an optical cavity is determined in real time by monitoring the transmission of a weak probe beam. Continuous observation of atom number is accomplished in the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics and functions in concert with a cooling scheme for radial atomic motion. The probe transmission exhibits sudden steps from one plateau to the next in response to the time evolution of the intracavity atom number, from N>or=3 to N=2-->1-->0 atoms, with some trapping events lasting over 1 s.     

Experimental progress in optical manipulation of single atoms for cavity QED

Cavity QED, as a fundamental system and research field, not only illuminates the primary aspects of decoherence and coherence in quantum dynamics, but also advances quantum information science. Manipulation of single atoms, in the context of cavity QED, is the essential element and has been becoming a hot issue for the past two decades. In this review paper, we will concentrate on the experimental aspects for manipulating the neutral atoms strongly coupled to a high-finesse cavity in the optical regime, including atomic cooling and trapping, different configurations of atom transportation and the wide variety of quantum outgrowths based on cavity QED, such as one atom laser, single photon source, etc. The cavity QED system at Shanxi University is briefly introduced.      

Squeezing and entangling atomic motion in cavity QED via quantum nondemolition measurement

We propose a scheme for preparing the squeezing of an atomic motion and an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen state in position and momentum of a pair of distantly separated trapped atoms. The scheme utilizes the quantum nondemolition measurements with interaction between the cavity field and the motional state of the trapped atom in cavity QED. By illuminating the atoms with bichromatic light, the interaction Hamiltonian of the cross-Kerr effect between the cavity and atomic motion is generated to implement quantum nondemolition measurements.Received: 5 February 2003, Published online: 17 July 2003PACS: 03.67.Hk Quantum communication - 32.80.Lg Mechanical effects of light on atoms, molecules, and ions - 42.50.-p Quantum optics     

Approximate and Conditional Teleportation of an Unknown Atomic State Without the Bell-state Measurement with Multi-photon Interaction

A scheme for approximately and conditionally teleporting an unknown atomic state via multi-photon interaction in cavity quantum electro dynamics (QED) is proposed. It is the extension of the scheme of Zheng (2004) [Physical Review A69, 064302], which is based on Jaynes–Cummings model in QED and where only a time point of system evolution and the corresponding Fidelity implementing the teleportation are given. In our scheme, the cavity field may be Fock state and the multi-photon interaction Jaynes–Cummings model is used to realize the approximate and conditional teleportation. Our scheme does not involve the Bell-state measurement and an additional atom, only requiring two atoms and one single-mode cavity. The fidelity of the scheme is higher than that of Zheng (2004) [Physical Review A69, 064302]. The scheme may be generalized to not only the teleportation of the state of a cavity mode to another mode by means of a single atom but also the teleportation of the state of a trapped ion. PACS: 03.67.-Ta, 03.65.Ta, 42.50.Dv     

Large index of refraction without absorption via decay-induced coherence in a three-level V system

We study the effects of quantum interference from spontaneous emission on the dispersion-absorption properties in a three-level V-type atomic system with two near-degenerate excited levels. We found that due to the quantum interference between two spontaneous decay channels, large index of refraction without absorption always can be obtained just by choosing proper values of the relative phase between the two applied fields.Received: 27 February 2004, Published online: 26 May 2004PACS: 42.50.Gy Effects of atomic coherence on propagation, absorption, and amplification of light; electromagnetically induced transparency and absorption - 42.50.Hz Strong-field excitation of optical transitions in quantum systems; multiphoton processes; dynamic Stark shift     

Efficient atomic quantum memory for photonic qubits in cavity QED

We investigate a scheme of atomic quantum memory to store photonic qubits of polarization in cavity QED. It is observed that the quantum state swapping between a single-photon pulse and a Λ-type atom can be made via scattering in an optical cavity [T. W. Chen, C. K. Law, P. T. Leung, Phys. Rev. A 69 (2004) 063810]. This swapping operates limitedly in the strong coupling regime for Λ-type atoms with equal dipole couplings. We extend this scheme in cavity QED to present a more feasible and efficient method for quantum memory combined with projective measurement. This method works without requiring such a condition on the dipole couplings. The fidelity is significantly higher than that of the swapping, and even in the moderate coupling regime it reaches almost unity by narrowing sufficiently the photon-pulse spectrum. This high performance is rather unaffected by the atomic loss, cavity leakage or detunings, while a trade-off is paid in the success probability for projective measurement.     

利用高阶拉盖尔-高斯横模精确测量法布里-珀罗腔内原子的运动轨迹

研究了冷原子与法布里-珀罗腔内拉盖尔-高斯横模强耦合相互作用体系的透射光谱, 分析了透射光谱与原子在腔中运动轨迹的关系. 结果表明, 与厄米特-高斯横模相比, 拉盖尔-高斯横模的腔场与原子的最大耦合系数几乎不随阶数的增加而变化, 使得探测光谱的对比度受模式阶数的影响较小. 在拉盖尔-高斯横模场分布的圆环边缘附近, 原子运动轨迹的微小偏移会引起透射光谱的很大变化, 因此在这些位置可以实现原子运动轨迹的高精度探测.     

Long-distance quantum state transfer through cavity-assisted interaction

We propose a scheme for long-distance quantum state transfer between different atoms based on cavity-assisted interactions. In our scheme, a coherent optical pulse sequentially interacts with two distant atoms trapped in separated cavities. Through the measurement of the state of the first atom and the homodyne detection of the final output coherent light, the quantum state can be transferred into the second atom with a success probability of unity and a fidelity of unity. In addition, our scheme neither requires the high-Q cavity working in the strong coupling regime nor employs the single-photon quantum channel, which greatly relaxes the experimental requirements.     

Quantum-information processing in strong-excitation regime with trapped ions in microcavity

A quantum information processing scheme is proposed in a system with cold trapped ions embedded in a single mode microcavity in strong excitation regime. With suitable choice of frequencies of the laser and the cavity light as well as ion-laser coupling strength, multipartite entanglement would be generated among internal states of the ions, which is insensitive to decoherence due to the cavity decay and heating of the vibrational mode of the ions. As a practical example, the specific discussion is focused on the two-ion case. Some unique features of the Bell states are presented under the framework of our model, which would be useful for quantum information processing.Received: 22 December 2003, Published online: 2 March 2004PACS: 03.67.-a Quantum information - 32.80.Lg Mechanical effects of light on atoms, molecules, and ions - 42.50.-p Quantum opticsM. Feng: Current address: Department of Mathematical Physics, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland.     

内腔多原子直接俘获的强耦合腔量子力学系统的构建

腔内中性原子的长时间控制与俘获一直是腔量子电动力学(QED)中的一个难题,极大地制约了人们相干操控单原子及其与光相互作用的研究.基于传统Fabry-Perot光学腔,设计了一套易于内腔原子操控的强耦合腔QED系统,其典型参数为:腔长3.5 mm精细度约为57000,(g0,κ,γ)=2π×(1.48,0.375,2.61)MHz,临界光子数和原子数分别为1.54和0.89.该系统的特点是:能够在腔内直接实现冷原子磁光阱,并建立腔内光学晶格,实现腔内可控数目的中性原子的长时间俘获.通过合理选择构建光学偶极阱和原子成像系统,可实现对腔内单个原子或原子阵列的操控、探测、成像等.该系统可以克服传统腔QED系统中转移原子的困难,大幅增加腔内原子的寿命,为构建以腔QED系统为基础的量子信息演示平台提供了一种可能.     

光腔中两组分玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的受激辐射特性和量子相变

研究了单模光腔中两组分玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚的基态性质和相关的量子相变.通过利用自旋相干态变换将等效赝自旋哈密顿算符对角化并求得基态能量泛函.基态能量泛函对其经典场变量进行变分并取极小值,得到光子数解和相边界曲线.通过稳定性讨论发现系统除了出现正常相和超辐射相之外,还得到了多稳的宏观量子态;受激辐射来自于原子数反转的集体态,单组分的Dicke系统中并没有此现象;受激辐射只能从一组分的原子中产生,而另外的仍保持在普通超辐射状态.通过调整相关的原子-场耦合强度和频率失谐,超辐射和受激辐射态的顺序可以在原子的两个组分之间互换.     

Atomic self-trapping induced by single-atom lasing

We study atomic center of mass motion and field dynamics of a single-atom laser consisting of a single incoherently pumped free atom moving in an optical high-Q resonator. For sufficient pumping, the system starts lasing whenever the atom is close to a field antinode. If the field mode eigenfrequency is larger than the atomic transition frequency, the generated laser light attracts the atom to the field antinode and cools its motion. Using quantum Monte Carlo wave function simulations, we investigate this coupled atom-field dynamics including photon recoil and cavity decay. In the regime of strong coupling, the generated field shows strong nonclassical features such as photon antibunching, and the atom is spatially confined and cooled to sub-Doppler temperatures.     

利用腔QED实现量子态转移

利用两个二能级原子和用光纤联接的两个单模光腔构成的系统,给出了实现量子态转移的方案。该方案中两个二能级原子分别处于用光纤联接的单模腔中,并同时与光场发生共振相互作用。通过控制原子与光场的相互作用时间,实现量子态的转移。     

利用腔QED实现量子态转移

利用两个二能级原子和用光纤联接的两个单模光腔构成的系统,给出了实现量子态转移的方案。该方案中两个二能级原子分别处于用光纤联接的单模腔中,并同时与光场发生共振相互作用。通过控制原子与光场的相互作用时间,实现量子态的转移。     

Cold atom dynamics in a quantum optical lattice potential

We study a generalized cold atom Bose-Hubbard model, where the periodic optical potential is formed by a cavity field with quantum properties. On the one hand, the common coupling of all atoms to the same mode introduces cavity-mediated long-range atom-atom interactions, and, on the other hand, atomic backaction on the field introduces atom-field entanglement. This modifies the properties of the associated quantum phase transitions and allows for new correlated atom-field states, including superposition of different atomic quantum phases. After deriving an approximative Hamiltonian including the new long-range interaction terms, we exhibit central physical phenomena at generic configurations of few atoms in few wells. We find strong modifications of population fluctuations and next-nearest-neighbor correlations near the phase transition point.     

基于低Q腔光子Faraday旋转的远程态制备

基于低Q腔中单光子的输入与输出关系,提出了利用偏振光Faraday旋转分别遥远制备单原子态和两原子纠缠态的可行方案.研究结果表明,当初始原子态的系数为实数时,通过选择合适的偏振光、腔场与原子相互作用系统的参数,单原子态与两原子纠缠态的远程制备均可确定性地得以实现.与以前的原子态远程制备方案相比,本文方案采用光子作为飞行比特来传递量子信息,故原则上可实现原子态的真正长距离制备.由于原子态的信息编码在耗散单边腔囚禁的Λ型三能级原子的两个基态能级,且原子仅虚激发,因此本文方案对腔衰减和原子自发辐射不敏感.此外,本文所提出的两种方案不需要两体或多体正交测量,仅涉及单体直积态测量,而且两种方案都工作在低Q腔,不需要原子与光腔的强耦合,从而有效降低了实验难度.     

两模腔中的参量上转换和下转换

提出了一种通过建立双线性二次哈密顿量在量子腔中实现参量上转换和下转换的方案.通常在非线性过程中,介质本身不参与能量的净交换,但光波频率可以发生转换的作用称为参量转换作用.此方案建立在一个四能级原子同时与两经典场和两量子场相互作用的基础上,理论属于非线性光学四波混频范畴.将原子制备在合适的能级上,经典光场与相应的能级发生共振,而同时量子光场与相应的能级产生大失谐相互作用,在强相互作用区域内,原子和腔场失耦合,进而实现腔模的参量转换.根据所制备初始能级的不同以及光场激发能级的差异,分别实现了参量上转换和参量下转换.在利用参量下转换制备压缩算符后,对实验的可行性进行了讨论,并且给出了理论值.结果表明：在级联三能原子中采用一个级联双光子过程代替了原来的两个偶极禁戒跃迁间的经典驱动,可以保证高的不同频率之间的转换效率,并且用于光的量子操控和量子信息处理.