Optical bistability and photon statistics in cavity quantum electrodynamics
Gerhard Rempe, Robert J. Thompson, Robert J. Brecha, W. D. Lee, Harry J. Kimble · Physical Review Letters · 1991
The quantum statistical behavior of a small collection of N two-state atoms strongly coupled to the field of a high-finessse optical cavity is investigated. Input-output characteristics are recorded over the range 3\ensuremath{\lesssim}N\ensuremath{\lesssim}65, with bistability observed for N\ensuremath{\gtrsim}15 intracavity atoms and for a saturation photon number ${\mathit{n}}_{0}$\ensuremath{\simeq}0.8. For weak excitation the transmitted field exhibits photon antibunching as a nonclassical manifestation of state reduction and quantum interference with the magnitude of the nonclassical effects largely independent of N.