Classical Control of Quantized Fields: Cavity QED and the Photon Pistol |
| J.H. Eberly and C.K. Law Department of Physics and Astronomy and Rochester Theory Center for Optical Science and Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA |
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| By using the double-lambda configuration of energy levels and three classical fields, an atom or ion in a high-Q resonant cavity can be manipulated to create a single-mode quantum state in the cavity that is an arbitrary combination of Fock states for that mode. The same principles of operation can be applied to a cavity with much lower Q in order to produce a "photon pistol", a device that "shoots" one and only one photon when a trigger is pulled, and emits no photons at other times. |
| DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.93.55 PACS numbers: 42.50.Dv, 42.50.Ct, 32.80.Qk |