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arXiv · 1105.1919

A Single Atom as a Mirror of an Optical Cavity

G. Hétet·L. Slodička·M. Hennrich·R. Blatt
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Abstract

By tightly focussing a laser field onto a single cold ion trapped in front of a far-distant dielectric mirror, we could observe a quantum electrodynamic effect whereby the ion behaves as the optical mirror of a Fabry-Pérot cavity. We show that the amplitude of the laser field is significantly altered due to a modification of the electromagnetic mode structure around the atom in a novel regime in which the laser intensity is already changed by the atom alone. e propose a direct application of this system as a quantum memory for single photons.

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G. Hétet, L. Slodička, M. Hennrich, R. Blatt. 2011-08-19. A Single Atom as a Mirror of an Optical Cavity. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.107.133002

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