Related papers: Forces between a single atom and its distant mirro…
In our recent paper [1], we reported observations of photon blockade by one atom strongly coupled to an optical cavity. In support of these measurements, here we provide an expanded discussion of the general phenomenology of photon blockade…
We measure interaction forces between pairs of charged PMMA colloidal particles suspended in a relatively low-polar medium (5 $\lesssim \epsilon \lesssim$ 8) directly from the deviations of particle positions inside two time-shared optical…
An experiment is performed where a single rubidium atom trapped within a high-finesse optical cavity emits two independently triggered entangled photons. The entanglement is mediated by the atom and is characterized both by a Bell…
We demonstrate quantum levitation controlled by Casimir forces acting between a polystyrene surface and a Teflon-coated metallic substrate immersed in a mixture of Toluene and magnetite particles. This system experiences…
We report the experimental demonstration of the induced polarization-dependent optical vortex beams. We use the Talbot configuration as a method to probe this effect. In particular, our simple experiment shows the direct measurement of this…
Since the early work by Ashkin in 1970, optical trapping has become one of the most powerful tools for manipulating small particles, such as micron sized beads or single atoms. The optical trapping mechanism is based on the interaction…
Rydberg atoms are in the focus of intense research due to the peculiar properties which make them interesting candidates for quantum optics and quantum information applications. In this work we study the ionization of Rydberg atoms due to…
Spatially-structured laser beams, eventually carrying orbital angular momentum, affect electronic transitions of atoms and their motional states in a complex way. We present a general framework, based on the spherical tensor decomposition…
Intense laser ionization expands Einstein's photoelectric effect rules giving a wealth of phenomena widely studied over the last decades. In all cases, so far, photons were assumed to carry one unit of angular momentum. However it is now…
The generation of entanglement between distant atoms via single photons is the basis for networked quantum computing, a promising route to large-scale trapped-ion and trapped-atom processors. Locating the emitter within an optical cavity…
A full density-matrix simulation is performed for optical deflection of a barium monofluoride (BaF) beam. Pairs of counter-propagating laser pulses are used for stimulated absorption followed by stimulated emission. The scheme produces a…
We investigate the interaction between single quantum emitters and non-transversally polarised photons for which the electric field vector amplitude has a significant component in the direction of propagation. Even though this situation…
We report a direct observation of radiation pressure, exerted on cold rubidium atoms while bouncing on an evanescent-wave atom mirror. We analyze the radiation pressure by imaging the motion of the atoms after the bounce. The number of…
Optically levitated particles have great potential to form the basis of novel quantum- enhanced sensors. These systems are very well suited for inertial sensing, as the particles are isolated from the environment when they are levitated at…
We describe an experiment in which the quadratures of the position of an harmonically-bound mirror are observed at the attometer level. We have studied the Brownian motion of the mirror, both in the free regime and in the cold-damped regime…
Optical trapping, also known as optical tweezing or optical levitation, is a technique that uses highly focused laser beams to manipulate micro- and nanoscopic particles. In optical traps driven by high-energy pulses, material non-linearity…
In light-pulsed atom interferometry, the phase accumulated by atoms depends on the effective wave vector of the absorbed photons. In this work, we proposed a theory model to analyses the effective wave vector of photons in structured light.…
Single trapped ions are ideal systems in which to test atomic physics at high precision: they are effectively isolated atoms held at rest and largely free from perturbing interactions. This thesis describes several projects developed to…
We report an absorption spectroscopy experiment and the observation of electromagnetically induced transparency from a single trapped atom. We focus a weak and narrowband Gaussian light beam onto an optically cooled Barium ion using a high…
We present experimental results and a theoretical model that illustrate how competing eigenbases can determine the dynamics of a fluorescing atom. In the absence of a magnetic field, the atom can get trapped in a dark state, which inhibits…