Three-dimensional imaging of cavity vacuum with single atoms localized by a nanohole array

Abstract

Zero-point electromagnetic fields were first introduced to explain the origin of atomic spontaneous emission. Vacuum fluctuations associated with the zero-point energy in cavities are now utilized in quantum devices such as single-photon sources, quantum memories, switches and network nodes. Here we present three-dimensional (3D) imaging of vacuum fluctuations in a high-Q cavity based on the measurement of position-dependent emission of single atoms. Atomic position localization is achieved by using a nanoscale atomic beam aperture scannable in front of the cavity mode. The 3D structure of the cavity vacuum is reconstructed from the cavity output. The root mean squared amplitude of the vacuum field at the antinode is also measured to be 0.92 ± 0.07 V cm −1. The present work utilizing a single atom as a probe for sub-wavelength imaging demonstrates the utility of nanometre-scale technology in cavity quantum electrodynamics.

Probing the quantum vacuum with an artificial atom in front of a mirror

“…This allows us to observe a modulation of the excitedstate lifetime by a factor of 9.8. In contrast to the Purcell effect [21][22][23][24] , where a cavity is used to modify the lifetime, in this work we have a fully open system with a continuous spectrum of modes. The Purcell effect has been extensively studied in recent years owing to its importance in superconducting qubit systems 14,25 .…”

Indirect measurement of three-photon correlation in nonclassical light sources

“…|1 − g (2) (0)| 1), the third term in Eq. (19) becomes negligibly small compared to the second term. The skewness contained in the last term reflects the degree of asymmetry of the distribution.…”

In-Line Hologram for Plasma Diagnostics

“…The vacuum is regarded to have a zero-point energy and has certain fluctuations as confirmed from the Casimir effect [13] or their visualization [14]. In the context of vacuum particles, it was experimentally observed that injecting laser light into the vacuum led to the generation of electron-positron pairs (EPPs) [15].…”