Letter abstract
Nature Physics 5, 480 - 484 (2009)
Published online: 17 May 2009 | doi:10.1038/nphys1282
Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Optical physics | Techniques and instrumentation
Photon burst detection of single atoms in an optical cavity
M. L. Terraciano1,3, R. Olson Knell1, D. G. Norris1, J. Jing1,3, A. Fernández2 & L. A. Orozco1
Many protocols in atomic physics and quantum information hinge on the ability to detect the presence of neutral atoms1, 2, 3, 4. Up to now, two avenues have been favoured: the direct detection of spontaneously emitted photons using high-quality optics5, 6, 7, or the observation of changes in light transmission through cavity mirrors due to strong atom–photon coupling8, 9, 10, 11. Here, we present an approach that combines these two methods by detecting an atom in a driven cavity mode through the collection of spontaneous emission and forward scattering into an undriven, orthogonally polarized cavity mode. Moderate atom–cavity coupling enhances the signal, enabling the detection of multiple photons from the same atom. This real-time measurement can establish the presence of a single freely moving atom in less than 1 
s with more than 99.7% confidence, using coincidence measurements to decrease the rate of false detections.
- Joint Quantum Institute, Department of Physics, University of Maryland and National Institute of Standards and Technology, College Park, Maryland 20742-4111, USA
- Centro de Optica e Información Cuántica, Departamento de Física, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción 4070386, Chile
- Present addresses: Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC 20375, USA (M.L.T.); State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, Department of Physics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, P. R. China (J.J.)
Correspondence to: L. A. Orozco1 e-mail: lorozco@umd.edu
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