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SYQC: Symposium Quantum Cooperativity of Light and Matter
SYQC 1: Quantum Cooperativity of Light and Matter - Session 1
SYQC 1.3: Talk
Thursday, March 17, 2022, 11:15–11:30, Audimax
Collective photon emission patterns from two atoms in free space — •Stefan Richter1, Sebastian Wolf2, Joachim von Zanthier1, and Ferdinand Schmidt-Kaler2 — 1Institut für Optik, Information und Photonik, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen — 2QUANTUM, Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Modification of spontaneous decay in space and time is a central topic of quantum physics. It has been predominantly investigated in cavity quantum electrodynamic systems. However, altered spontaneous decay may equally result from correlations among the emitters in free space, as observed in super- and subradiance. Yet, such projective preparation of an entangled quantum state and the resulting modified emission pattern has not been observed due to the lack of ultra-fast multi-pixelated cameras. Using two trapped ions in free space, we projectively prepare atoms and observe the corresponding collective photon emission. Depending on the direction of detection of the first photon, we record fundamentally different emission patterns, including super- and subradiance. Our results demonstrate that the detection of a single photon may fundamentally determine the subsequent collective emission pattern of an atomic array, here represented by its most elementary building block of two atoms.