Search

A new scheme for a double-slit experiment in the time domain is presented. Phase-stabilized few-cycle laser pulses open one to two windows (``slits'') of attosecond duration for photoionization. Fringes in the angle-resolved energy spectrum of varying visibility depending on the degree of which-way information are observed. A situation in which one and the same electron encounters a single and a double slit at the same time is discussed. The investigation of the fringes makes possible interferometry on the attosecond time scale. The number of visible fringes, for example, indicates that the slits are extended over about 500as., Comment: 4 figures

We present a method of measuring expectation values of quadrature moments of a multimode field through two-level probe ``homodyning''. Our approach is based on an integral transform formalism of measurable probe observables, where analytically derived kernels unravel efficiently the required field information at zero interaction time, minimizing decoherence effects. The proposed scheme is suitable for fields that, while inaccessible to a direct measurement, enjoy one and two-photon Jaynes-Cummings interactions with a two-level probe, like spin, phonon, or cavity fields. Available data from previous experiments are used to confirm our predictions., Comment: 4 pages, no figures, modified version with experimental estimations

We propose and analyze an experimental scheme of quantum nondemolition detection of monophotonic and vacuum states in a superconductive toroidal cavity by means of Rydberg atoms., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

A method of storing and retrieving quantum states of radiation fields using the ground-state coherences is discussed. We demonstrate the generation of multiparticle entangled states starting from atoms prepared in a coherent state. Use is made of the j=-1/2 to +1/2 atomic transition and its interaction with a far-detuned elliptically polarized field., Comment: submitted for publication

We discuss a simple search problem which can be pursued with different methods, either on a classical or on a quantum basis. The system is represented by a chain of trapped ions. The ion to be searched is a member of that chain, consists, however, of an isotopic species different to the others. It is shown that the classical imaging may lead as fast to the final result as the quantum imaging. However, for the discussed case the quantum method gives more flexibility and higher precision when the number of ions considered in the chain is increasing. In addition, interferences are observable even when the distances between the ions is smaller than half a wavelength of the incident light., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

Motivated by recent experiments on photon statistics from individual dye pairs planted on biomolecules and coupled by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), we show here that the FRET dynamics can be modelled by Gaussian random processes with colored noise. Using Monte-Carlo numerical simulations, the photon intensity correlations from the FRET pairs are calculated, and are turned out to be very close to those observed in experiment. The proposed stochastic description of FRET is consistent with existing theories for microscopic dynamics of the biomolecule that carries the FRET coupled dye pairs., Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. accepted to J.Phys.Chem.B

We study the dynamics of a micromaser where the pumping atoms are strongly driven by a resonant classical field during their transit through the cavity mode. We derive a master equation for this strongly-driven micromaser, involving the contributions of the unitary atom-field interactions and the dissipative effects of a thermal bath. We find analytical solutions for the temporal evolution and the steady-state of this system by means of phase-space techniques, providing an unusual solvable model of an open quantum system, including pumping and decoherence. We derive closed expressions for all relevant expectation values, describing the statistics of the cavity field and the detected atomic levels. The transient regime shows the build-up of mixtures of mesoscopic fields evolving towards a superpoissonian steady-state field that, nevertheless, yields atomic correlations that exhibit stronger nonclassical features than the conventional micromaser., Comment: 9 pages, 16 figures. Submitted for publication

We present a probabilistic scheme for generating and purifying maximally-entangled states of two atoms inside an optical cavity via no-photon detection in the output cavity mode, where ideal detectors may not be required. The intermediate mixed states can be continuously "filtered" so as to violate Bell inequalities in a parametrized manner. The scheme relies on an additional strong-driving field that yields unusual dynamics in cavity QED experiments, simultaneously realizing Jaynes-Cummings and anti-Jaynes-Cummings interactions., Comment: 4 pages and 3 figures

We propose a realistic scheme for measuring the micromaser linewidth by monitoring the phase diffusion dynamics of the cavity field. Our strategy consists in exciting an initial coherent state with the same photon number distribution as the micromaser steady-state field, singling out a purely diffusive process in the system dynamics. After the injection of a counter-field, measurements of the population statistics of a probe atom allow us to derive the micromaser linewidth. Our proposal aims at solving a classic and relevant decoherence problem in cavity quantum electrodynamics, allowing to establish experimentally the distinctive features appearing in the micromaser spectrum due to the discreteness of the electromagnetic field., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Submitted for publication

The Fourier transform is often used to connect the Lorentzian energy distribution for resonance scattering to the exponential time dependence for decaying states. However, to apply the Fourier transform, one has to bend the rules of standard quantum mechanics; the Lorentzian energy distribution must be extended to the full real axis $-\infty

We present an operational definition of the Wigner function. Our method relies on the Fresnel transform of measured Rabi oscillations and applies to motional states of trapped atoms as well as to field states in cavities. We illustrate this technique using data from recent experiments in ion traps [D. M. Meekhof et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1796 (1996)] and in cavity QED [B. Varcoe et al., Nature 403, 743 (2000)]. The values of the Wigner functions of the underlying states at the origin of phase space are W(0)=+1.75 for the vibrational ground state and W(0)=-1.4 for the one-photon number state. We generalize this method to wave packets in arbitrary potentials., Comment: 4 pages include 4 figures, submitted to PRL

We propose a method of generating multipartite entanglement by considering the interaction of a system of N two-level atoms in a cavity of high quality factor with a strong classical driving field. It is shown that, with a judicious choice of the cavity detuning and the applied coherent field detuning, vacuum Rabi coupling produces a large number of important multipartite entangled states. It is even possible to produce entangled states involving different cavity modes. Tuning of parameters also permits us to switch from Jaynes-Cummings to anti-Jaynes-Cummings like interaction., Comment: Last version with minor changes and added references. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Letters

The different behaviour of first order interferences and second order correlations are investigated for the case of two coherently excited atoms. For intensity measurements this problem is equivalent to Young's double slit experiment and was investigated in an experiment by Eichmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2359 (1993)] and later analyzed in detail by Itano et al. [Phys. Rev. A 57, 4176 (1998)]. Our results show that in cases where the intensity interferences disappear the intensity-intensity correlations can display an interference pattern with a visibility of up to 100%. The contrast depends on the polarization selected for the detection and is independent of the strength of the driving field. The nonclassical nature of the calculated intensity-intensity correlations is also discussed., Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures

The emission characteristics in the fluorescence of two laser-driven dipole-dipole-interacting three level atoms is investigated. When the light from both atoms is detected separately a correlation of the emission processes is observed in dependence of the dipole-dipole interaction. This opens the possibility to investigate the dipole-dipole interaction through the emission behavior. We present Monte-Carlo simulations which are in good agreement with the analytic solutions., Comment: 4 pages, 9 Figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A (Rapid Communication Section)

We demonstrate the existence of new nonclassical correlations in the radiation of two atoms, which are coherently driven by a continuous laser source. The photon-photon-correlations of the fluorescence light show a spatial interferene pattern not present in a classical treatment. A feature of the new phenomenon is, that bunched and antibunched light is emitted in different spatial directions. The calculations are performed analytically. It is pointed out, that the correlations are induced by state reduction due to the measurement process when the detection of the photons does not distinguish between the atoms. It is interesting to note, that the phenomena show up even without any interatomic interaction., Comment: 4 pages, 6 Figures

We propose a scheme for slowing down decay into a continuum. We make use of a sequence of ultrashort $2\pi$-pulses applied on an auxiliary transition of the system so that there is a destructive interference between the two transition amplitudes - one before the application of the pulse and the other after the application of the pulse. We give explicit results for a structured continuum. Our scheme can also inhibit unwanted transitions., Comment: 11 pages and 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters

We have investigated the efficiency of pulsed Raman sideband cooling in the presence of multiple decay and excitation channels. By applying sum rules we identify parameter regimes in which multiple scattering of photons can be described by an effective wave vector. Using this method we determine the rate of heating caused by optical pumping inside and outside the Lamb-Dicke regime. On this basis we discuss also the efficiency of a recently proposed scheme for ground-state cooling outside the Lamb-Dicke regime [G. Morigi, J.I. Cirac, M. Lewenstein, and P. Zoller, Europhys. Lett. {\bf 39}, 13 (1997)]., Comment: 8 pages, 4 Figures. To appear in Optics Communications

We consider pump-probe spectroscopy of a single ion with a highly metastable (probe) clock transition which is monitored by using the quantum jump technique. For a weak clock laser we obtain the well known Autler-Townes splitting. For stronger powers of the clock laser we demonstrate the transition to a new regime. The two regimes are distinguished by the transition of two complex eigenvalues to purely imaginary ones which can be very different in magnitude. The transition is controlled by the power of the clock laser. For pump on resonance we present simple analytical expressions for various linewidths and line positions., Comment: 6 figures. accepted for publication in PRA

The absolute frequency of the In$^{+}$ $5s^{2 1}S_{0}$ - $5s5p^{3}P_{0}$ clock transition at 237 nm was measured with an accuracy of 1.8 parts in $10^{13}$. Using a phase-coherent frequency chain, we compared the $^{1}S_{0}$ - $^{3}P_{0}$ transition with a methane-stabilized He-Ne laser at 3.39 $\mu$m which was calibrated against an atomic cesium fountain clock. A frequency gap of 37 THz at the fourth harmonic of the He-Ne standard was bridged by a frequency comb generated by a mode-locked femtosecond laser. The frequency of the In$^{+}$ clock transition was found to be $1 267 402 452 899.92 (0.23)$ kHz, the accuracy being limited by the uncertainty of the He-Ne laser reference. This represents an improvement in accuracy of more than 2 orders of magnitude on previous measurements of the line and now stands as the most accurate measurement of an optical transition in a single ion., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. accepted for publication in Opt. Lett

Numerical simulations on the evolution of step-screw and edge-screw optical phase dislocations in bulk saturable self-defocusing nonlinear media are presented, with emphasis on their ability to induce steering waveguides for signal beams (pulses). Two schemes for directional coupling of such signals, both ensuring reasonable coupling-to-cross-talk efficiency ratio, are investigated. The parameters useful for performance optimization of the couplers are discussed., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Appl. Phys. B

Theoretical and experimental results on optical ring dark solitary waves are presented, emphasizing the interplay between initial dark beam contrast, phase-shift magnitude, background-beam intensity and saturation of the nonlinearity are presented. The results are found to confirm qualitatively the existing analytical theory and are in agreement with the numerical simulations carried out., Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, submitted to PRE

We study from the point of view of quantum logic the properties of the collective oscillations of a linear chain of ions trapped in a linear Paul trap and composed of two ion species. We discuss extensively sympathetic cooling of the chain and the effect of anharmonicity on laser-cooling and quantum-information processing., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, addition of references

In this work we report the first realization of odd dark beams of finite length under controllable initial conditions. The mixed edge-screw phase dislocations are obtained by reproducing binary computer-generated holograms. Two effective ways to control the steering of the beams are analyzed experimentally and compared with numerical simulations., Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure; Submited to JOSA B

A new acousto-electrical method making use of transient transverse acoustoelectric voltage (TAV) to study solid state structures is reported. This voltage arises after a surface acoustic wave (SAW) generating the signal is switched off. Related measurements consist in detecting the shape of transient voltage and its spectral and temperature dependence. Both theory and experiment show that this method is an effective tool to characterize trapping centers in the bulk as well as at surfaces or interfaces of epitaxial semiconductor structures., Comment: 11 pages, 6 EPS figures