Abstract

Experiments with the one-atom maser¹ have demonstrated that it is possible to study the interaction of a single atom with a single-mode of a resonant electromagnetic field in a cavity. The atoms used in these experiments are Rydberg atoms with a very large principal quantum number. Another important ingredient is the superconducting cavity: The quality factor is high enough for a periodic energy exchange between atom and cavity field to be observed; i.e., the relaxation time of the cavity field is larger than the characteristic time of the atom-field interaction, which is given by the reciprocal of the Rabi frequency. It is therefore possible to perform experiments on the dynamics of the atom-field interaction. Some of the features are explicitly a consequence of the quantum nature of the electromagnetic field.² With a new cavity (quality factor 3 × 10¹⁰) it could be demonstrated that the statistics of the photons in the cavity is sub-Poissonian; in suitable conditions it is even possible to generate number states. Using number states of the single-atom maser novel quantum interference experiments can be performed giving new insight in the wave particle duality.

© 1989 Optical Society of America