Cavity quantum electrodynamics with strong coupling in the optical domain
Gerhard Rempe, Robert J. Thompson, Harry J. Kimble · Physica Scripta · 1994
A tutorial review is given on recent experiments performed with 1 ⩽ N ⩽ 110 atoms in a microscopic high-finesse optical cavity. The resonator has length 1 mm and finesse 80 000. The radiative properties of the strongly coupled atom-cavity system differ from those of the individual components. For example, spontaneous emission is reversible, the first excited state of the composite system splits into two levels and the intensity fluctuations of the light transmitted by the resonator are nonclassical. We observe photon-antibunching and sub-Poissonian photon statistics. In terms of practical applications, the system renders possible ( i ) the detection of single atoms with high sensitivity and ( ii ) optical bistability for a few atoms and photons only.