Abstract

The radiative properties of Rydberg atoms are drastically altered when, instead of emitting in free space, they radiate in a cavity. Spontaneous emission of a single atom in the cavity can be either enhanced or inhibited, or else it can become a reversible coherent process during which the atom periodically emits and reabsorbs a single photon. At the same time, the Rydberg energy levels are shifted with respect to their free space position by an amount depending on the atom position in the cavity (van der Waals atom-metal shift or cavity-induced Lamb shifts).

© 1986 Optical Society of America