Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 58: Photonik 3

Q 58.8: Talk

Friday, March 16, 2012, 12:30–12:45, V38.01

Formation of supermodes in atom-microcavity chains — •Sandra Isabelle Schmid and Jörg Evers — Max-Planck Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany

We investigate pathway interference effects in a chain of coupled atom-cavity systems[1]. Each subsystem consists of a whispering gallery resonator coupled to a nearby two-level atom. The subsystems are connected by a common fiber which allows to probe the system by an input laser field. Photon fluxes between the atom-cavity subsystems are possible in both directions. We found, that this energy exchange between the subsystems influences strongly the system’s dynamics. This enables the formation of so-called supermodes which lead to a strongly enhanced transmission signal as compared to a chain of independent atom-cavity systems, where backward fluxes are suppressed. Interference effects of different pathways, as they were also analyzed in [2], on which light can propagate through such a coupled setup play a key role in the system’s dynamics. The impact of the formation of supermodes increases with the chain length for long chains and leads to a crucially enhanced relative transmission output. While the transmission signal serves as indicator for supermodes, the reflection signal could be used in order to detect, which cavities of the chain couple to nearby atoms. This information can be crucial in experiments where simultaneous coupling of the atoms is difficult.
S. I. Schmid and J. Evers, arXiv:1108.4525 [quant-ph] (2011).
S. I. Schmid, K. Xia, and J. Evers, Phys. Rev. A 84, 013808 (2011).