Abstract

In order to observe substantial interaction between single atoms and photons, cavities with a high finesse can be used to enhance the field at the location of an atom. Alternatively, an attempt can be made to tailor the spatial mode of a photon to closely match the mode corresponding to an electrical dipole transition of an atom by strong focusing [1]. In this paper, we present our experimental work on measurements of extinction and phase shift of a weak coherent beam due to the presence of an atom in the strongly focused part of a Gaussian light beam.

© 2009 IEEE