Related papers: A single atom in free space as a quantum aperture
We construct 3-D solutions of Maxwell's equations that describe Gaussian light beams focused by a strong lens. We investigate the interaction of such beams with single atoms in free space and the interplay between angular and quantum…
Taming quantum dynamical processes is the key to novel applications of quantum physics, e.g. in quantum information science. The control of light-matter interactions at the single-atom and single-photon level can be achieved in cavity…
Trapped ion crystals have proved to be one of the most viable physical implementations of quantum registers and a promising candidate for a scalable realization of quantum networks. The latter will require the development of an efficient…
One-dimensional quantum optical models usually rest on the intuition of large scale separation or frozen dynamics associated with the different spatial dimensions, for example when studying quasi one-dimensional atomic dynamics, potentially…
Coupling of light to an atom at single quanta level with high probability is a building block for many quantum information processing protocols. It is commonly believed that efficient coupling is only achievable with the assistance of a…
Obtaining the total wavefunction evolution of interacting quantum systems provides access to important properties, such as entanglement, shedding light on fundamental aspects, e.g. quantum energetics and thermodynamics, and guiding towards…
The interaction of a single-photon wave packet with an initially excited two-level atom in free space is studied in semiclassical and quantum approaches. It is shown that the final state of the field does not contain doubly occupied modes.…
Atomic ensembles have shown to be a promising candidate for implementations of quantum information processing by many recently-discovered schemes. All these schemes are based on the interaction between optical beams and atomic ensembles.…
We report the optical imaging of a single atom with nanometer resolution using an adaptive optical alignment technique that is applicable to general optical microscopy. By decomposing the image of a single laser-cooled atom, we identify and…
The efficient interaction between single photons and single matter objects in free space is of key importance for quantum technologies. An experimental setup for testing this possibility involves single two-level ion trapped at the focus of…
Supplementary information is presented on the recent work by Moonjoo Lee et al. on the sub-wavelength 3D imaging of the vacuum-field intensity in a cavity by using single atoms confined by a nanohole aperture as a nanoscopic probe.
Absorption imaging has played a key role in the advancement of science from van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of red blood cells to modern observations of dust clouds in stellar nebulas and Bose-Einstein condensates. Here we show the first…
The capacity to confine light into a small region of space is of paramount importance in many areas of modern science. Here, we suggest a mechanism to store a quantized "bit" of light - with a very precise amount of energy - in an open…
Generalized single-atom Maxwell-Bloch equations for optically dense media are derived taking into account non-cooperative radiative atom-atom interactions. Applying a Gaussian approximation and formally eliminating the degrees of freedom of…
The problem of light waves interaction with charged particles becomes more and more complex starting with the case of plane waves, where the analytical solution is well known, to more natural, though more complicated situations which…
We describe the resonant interaction of an atom with a strongly focused light beam by expanding the field in multipole waves. For a classical field, or when the field is described by a coherent state, we find that both intensity pattern and…
We investigate optimal conditions for the quantum interface between a signal photon pulse and one-dimensional chain consisting of a varied number of atoms. The tested object is physically designed as an atomic array of tripod-type atoms…
The optical properties of a fixed atom are well-known and investigated. For example, the extraordinarily large cross section of a single atom as seen by a resonant photon is essential for quantum optical applications. Mechanical effects…
The structure of single atoms in real space is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. Very high resolution is possible by a dramatic reduction of the tip-sample distance. The instabilities which are normally encountered when using…
In this article we theoretically study the phase shift a single atom imprints onto a coherent state light beam in free space. The calculations are performed in a semiclassical framework. The key parameters governing the interaction and thus…