Why material slow light does not improve cavity-enhanced atom detection
arXiv:1705.01028 · doi:10.1080/09500340.2017.1384512
Abstract
We discuss the prospects for enhancing absorption and scattering of light from a weakly coupled atom in a high-finesse optical cavity by adding a medium with large, positive group index of refraction. The slow-light effect is known to narrow the cavity transmission spectrum and increase the photon lifetime, but the quality factor of the cavity may not be increased in a metrologically useful sense. Specifically, detection of the weakly coupled atom through either cavity ringdown measurements or the Purcell effect fails to improve with the addition of material slow light. A single-atom model of the dispersive medium helps elucidate why this is the case.
arXiv comment11 pages, 4 figures; QuTiP python file included. This version: changed title and added several references; results are unchanged. Accepted for open access publication in a special issue of Journal of Modern Optics in memory of Prof Danny Segal. Publisher's version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500340.2017.1384512
References in corpus (19)
- QuTiP 2: A Python framework for the dynamics of open quantum systems
- QuTiP: An open-source Python framework for the dynamics of open quantum systems
- Dipole Blockade and Quantum Information Processing in Mesoscopic Atomic Ensembles
- Fast quantum gates for neutral atoms
- Atom-Light Interactions in Photonic Crystals
- Electromagnetically induced transparency with single atoms in a cavity
- Canonical quantization of macroscopic electromagnetism
- Slow-light enhancement of Beer-Lambert-Bouguer absorption
- Cavity-based single atom preparation and high-fidelity hyperfine state readout
- Atom detection and photon production in a scalable, open, optical microcavity
- Slow-wave effect and mode-profile matching in Photonic Crystal microcavities
- Optical control of the refractive index of a single atom
- Slow-light enhanced gain in active photonic crystal waveguides
- Photon lifetime in a cavity containing a slow-light medium
- Observing Coherence Effects in an Overdamped Quantum System
- Fast cavity-enhanced atom detection with low noise and high fidelity
- Superradiant Raman Laser Magnetometer
- Anomalous ring-down effects and breakdown of the decay rate concept in optical cavities with negative group delay
- Vacuum field energy and spontaneous emission in anomalously dispersive cavities