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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 50: Ultrakalte Atome (Einzelne Teilchen und Ionenfallen)

Q 50.4: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 21. März 2007, 17:15–17:30, 5D

Trapping and observing single atoms in the dark. — •T. Puppe, I. Schuster, A. Grothe, A. Kubanek, K. Murr, P.W.H. Pinkse, and G. Rempe — Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany

A single atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse cavity constitutes a fundamental quantum system of matter-light interaction. In experiments with couplings largely exceeding the decay rates, i.e. small mode volume, optical access from the side is difficult. Therefore, atoms are mostly stored in dipole traps based on a cavity mode. So far only red-detuned dipole traps have been realized [1].

We prepare a strongly coupled atom-cavity system by two-dimensional guiding and three-dimensional confinement of single atoms in blue-detuned cavity modes. The prominent characteristics of a blue-detuned dipole trap is, that at the trap center the free-space properties of the atom are preserved. In particular, the vanishing Stark shift is an advantage for the study of fundamental quantum effects as well as applications in quantum information processing. Strong coupling and the absence of a light shift is directly observed in the normal-mode spectrum of the system. With the help of the blue trap, we explore the possibility to detect the presence of the atom while scattering less than one spontaneous photon from the atom.

[1]  J. Ye, et al. PRL 83, 4987 (1999). P. Maunz, et al. Nature 428, 50-52 (2004).