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arXiv · 1506.02297

Strong Coupling on a Forbidden Transition in Strontium and Nondestructive Atom Counting

Matthew A. Norcia·James K. Thompson
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Abstract

We observe strong collective coupling between an optical cavity and the forbidden spin singlet to triplet optical transition $^1$S$_0$ to $^3$P$_1$ in an ensemble of $^{88}$Sr. Despite the transition being 1000 times weaker than a typical dipole transition, we observe a well resolved vacuum Rabi splitting. We use the observed vacuum Rabi splitting to make non-destructive measurements of atomic population with the equivalent of projection-noise limited sensitivity and minimal heating ($<0.01$ photon recoils/atom). This technique may be used to enhance the performance of optical lattice clocks by generating entangled states and reducing dead time.

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Matthew A. Norcia, James K. Thompson. 2015-06-07. Strong Coupling on a Forbidden Transition in Strontium and Nondestructive Atom Counting. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.93.023804

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