Berlin 2014 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 45: Ultracold atoms and molecules I
Q 45.3: Talk
Thursday, March 20, 2014, 14:30–14:45, DO26 208
3D Imaging of Cavity Vacuum with Single Atoms Localized by a Nanohole Aperture — •Moonjoo Lee1,2, Junki Kim2, Wontaek Seo2, Hyun-Gue Hong2, Younghoon Song2, Ramachandra Dasari3, and Kyungwon An2 — 1Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland — 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea — 3G. R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, U.S.A.
P. A. M. Dirac first introduced zero-point electromagnetic fields in order to explain the origin of atomic spontaneous emission. Vacuum fluctuations associated with the zero-point energy in cavities are now utilized in quantum devices such as single-photon sources, quantum memories, switches and network nodes. Here we present 3D imaging of vacuum fluctuations in a high-Q cavity based on the measurement of position-dependent emission of single atoms. Atomic position localization is achieved by using a nanoscale atomic beam aperture scannable in front of the cavity mode. The 3D structure of the cavity vacuum is reconstructed from the cavity output. The rms amplitude of the vacuum field at the antinode is also measured to be 0.92±0.07 V/cm. The present work utilizing a single atom as a probe for sub-wavelength imaging demonstrates the utility of nanometer-scale technology in cavity quantum electrodynamics.