Generating and Probing a Two-Photon Fock State with a Single Atom in a Cavity
Patrice Bertet, S. Osnaghi, P. Milman, Alexia Auffèves, Paolo Maioli, M. Brune, J. M. Raimond, S. Haroche · Physical Review Letters · 2002
A two-photon Fock state is prepared in a cavity sustaining a "source mode" and a "target mode," with a single circular Rydberg atom. In a third-order Raman process, the atom emits a photon in the target while scattering one photon from the source into the target. The final two-photon state is probed by measuring by Ramsey interferometry the cavity light shifts induced by the target field on the same atom. Extensions to other multiphoton processes and to a new type of micromaser are briefly discussed.