A scheme for generating two-photon and three-photon states of a cavity field using resonant single atoms
Shi-Biao Zheng · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics · 2002
We propose a scheme for generating two-photon states for a cavity field. In the scheme the cavity initially contains a small coherent or thermal field. Then a resonant two-level atom is sent through the cavity. After an appropriate interaction time the atom is state-selectively measured, which may collapse the cavity field onto a two-photon state. A three-photon state of rather high fidelity can also be generated with a single atom.