We describe an ion-based cavity-QED system in which the internal dynamics of an atom is coupled to the modes of an optical cavity by vacuum-stimulated Raman transitions. We observe Raman spectra for different excitation polarizations and find quantitative agreement with theoretical simulations. Residual motion of the ion introduces motional sidebands in the Raman spectrum and leads to ion delocalization. The system offers prospects for cavity-assisted resolved-sideband ground-state cooling and coherent manipulation of ions and photons.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

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We study atomic center of mass motion and field dynamics of a single-atom laser consisting of a single incoherently pumped free atom moving in an optical high-Q resonator. For sufficient pumping, the system starts lasing whenever the atom is close to a field antinode. If the field mode eigenfrequency is larger than the atomic transition frequency, the generated laser light attracts the atom to the field antinode and cools its motion. Using quantum Monte Carlo wave function simulations, we investigate this coupled atom-field dynamics including photon recoil and cavity decay. In the regime of strong coupling, the generated field shows strong nonclassical features such as photon antibunching, and the atom is spatially confined and cooled to sub-Doppler temperatures.

We study a single incoherently pumped atom moving within an optical high-Q resonator in the strong coupling regime. Using a semiclassical description for the atom and field dynamics, we derive a closed system of differential equations to describe this coupled atom-field dynamics. For sufficiently strong pumping the system starts lasing when the atom gets close to a field antinode, and the associated light forces provide for self-trapping of the atom. For a cavity mode blue detuned with respect to the atomic transition frequency this is combined with cavity induced motional cooling allowing for long term steady-state operation of such a laser. The analytical results for temperature and field statistics agree well with our earlier predictions based on Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We find sub-Doppler temperatures that decrease with gain and coupling strength and can even go beyond the limit of passive cavity cooling. Besides demonstrating the importance of light forces in single-atom lasers, this result also gives strong evidence to enhance laser cooling through stimulated emission in resonators.