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Microphotonics

Playing with atoms

Researchers in London have produced a scalable microphotonic chip that can optically detect and address individual atoms. The end result could be atom–photon chips capable of complex, system-level functionality.

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Figure 1: Diagram of a canonical cavity QED system involving an alkali atom trapped inside a high-finesse Fabry–Pérot cavity.
Figure 2: Schematic of the cavity apparatus demonstrated by the Imperial College research team4.

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Painter, O. Playing with atoms. Nature Photon 1, 615–616 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2007.213

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