English

Coherence time of a cold-atom laser below threshold

Optics 2020-09-28 v2 Atomic Physics Quantum Physics

Abstract

We experimentally study the coherence time of a below-threshold Raman laser in which the gain medium is a gas of magneto-optically trapped atoms. The second-order optical coherence exhibits photon bunching with a correlation time which is varied by two orders of magnitude by controlling the gain. Results are in good agreement with a simple analytic model which suggests the effect is dominated by gain, rather than dispersion, in this system. Cavity ring-down measurements show the photon lifetime, related to the first-order coherence time, is also increased.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2007.07798,
  title  = {Coherence time of a cold-atom laser below threshold},
  author = {Graeme Harvie and Adam Butcher and Jon Goldwin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.07798},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

4 pages, 3 figures; minor changes in response to referee review; version accepted for publication in Optics Letters

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