Frankfurt 2006 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 31: Poster Fallen und Kühlung

Q 31.5: Poster

Tuesday, March 14, 2006, 16:30–18:30, Labsaal

Deterministic Coupling of a Trapped Atom to a High-Finesse Optical Cavity — •Bernhard Weber, Stefan Nußmann, Markus Hijlkema, Holger Specht, Simon Webster, Axel Kuhn, and Gerhard Rempe — MPI für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str.1, 85748 Garching

We report on an experiment where the position of individual atoms within the mode of a high-finesse optical cavity is precisely adjusted, controlled and observed. Using an orthongonal arrangement of the cavity, a standing-wave dipole-force trap and a pump laser makes it possible to either precisely address one single atom by the cavity, or to simultaneously couple two precisely separated atoms to a higher mode of the cavity [1]. To monitor the coupling of the atoms to the cavity, we observe the photons from the pump beam that are Raman scattered into and then emitted from the cavity. The measured photon emission rate allows us to clearly distinguish between atom numbers 0, 1 and 2. The deterministic control over the atom-cavity coupling is achieved by turning a glass plate in the optical path of the standing-wave trap, resulting in a position shift of the antinodes and the atoms trapped therein. We show that we can deterministically move a single atom into and out of the cavity mode with a repositioning precision of 135nm, and thus freely adjust the coupling.

[1] S. Nußmann et al. Phys.Rev.Lett. 95, 173602 (2005)