Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 58: Photonik 3
Q 58.1: Group Report
Friday, March 16, 2012, 10:30–11:00, V38.01
Progress report towards strong light-matter coupling in free space: A single ion and a single photon — •Robert Maiwald1,2, Andrea Golla1,2, Martin Fischer1,2, Marianne Bader1,2, Benoît Chalopin3, Simon Heugel1,2, Markus Sondermann1,2, and Gerd Leuchs1,2 — 1Institut für Optik, Information und Photonik (IOIP), Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen — 2Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL), Erlangen — 3Laboratoire Collisions Agrégats Réactivité, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
An optimized process of light-matter interaction is crucial for applications such as quantum memories, gate operations and entanglement distribution. Our contribution to this field focuses on the efficient interaction of light with single atomic ions in free space. To this end we have devised a coupling scheme based on a parabolic mirror surrounding an ion [1, 2]. This setup converts a radially polarized Laguerre-Gaussian light field into a linear polarized dipole mode concentrated in the mirror’s focus, where an ion trap with high optical access is used to localize a single ion [3]. Our primary goals are twofold: (i) reaching maximum possible phase shift of a coherent light field based on the state dependent interaction with a single atom; and (ii) demonstrating that a single photon can deterministically excite an atom in free space. Both questions require different scenarios, the latter one being the time-reversed version of spontaneous emission. In the talk we review theoretical expectations and present recent results from our experiments, ranging from spatial and temporal pulse shaping of light to match the ion’s transition wavelength and lifetime, all the way to the successful trapping of single 174Yb+ ions inside the parabolic mirror, where we compare the measured fluorescence rate to the absolute rate possible.
[1] M. Sondermann et al., Applied Physics B, 89 (4), 489-492 (2007)
[2] N. Lindlein et al., Laser Physics, 17, 927-934 (2007)
[3] R. Maiwald et al., Nature Physics 5, 551 (2009)