Hannover 2003 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik

Q 19: Fallen und Kühlung 2

Q 19.5: Talk

Tuesday, March 25, 2003, 15:00–15:15, F303

Towards cavity-mediated cooling of a trapped atom — •P. Maunz, I. Schuster, T. Puppe, P.W.H. Pinkse, and G. Rempe — Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany

A single atom localised in the mode of a high-finesse cavity is a highly interesting system. For example it allows one to investigate the dynamics of a continuously observed quantum system. Moreover, fascinating applications in quantum-information processing and quantum computing are expected. However, the experimental realisation of this system is extremely challenging.

Previous experiments succeeded in trapping a single atom in the far-detuned mode of a cavity [1]. However the storage time is short and limited by heating from fluctuations of the intracavity light field. But, using the velocity-dependent forces predicted for a strongly-coupled atom-cavity system [2], it should be possible to cool the motion of the atom in the cavity. Extending the work of [3], where heating from velocity-dependent forces was observed, we now investigate cavity-mediated cooling for extending the storage time of a single atom in the cavity.

[1] J. Ye, D.W. Vernooy, and H.J. Kimble, Phys. Rev. Lett., 83, 4987 (1999).

[2] P. Horak, G. Hechenblaikner, K.M. Gheri, H. Stecher, and H. Ritsch, Phys. Rev. Lett., 79, 4974 (1997).

[3] P. Münstermann, T. Fischer, P. Maunz, P.W.H Pinkse, and G. Rempe, Phys. Rev. Lett., 82, 3791 (1999).