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Photonic Band Gap Materials pp 119–141Cite as

From Micromaser to Microlaser

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((NSSE,volume 315))

Abstract

The simplest and most fundamental system for studying radiation-matter coupling is a single two-level atom interacting with a single mode of an electromagnetic field in a cavity. It received a great deal of attention shortly after the maser was invented, but at that time, the problem was of purely academic interest since the matrix elements describing the radiation-atom interaction are so small. The field of a single photon is not sufficient to lead to an atom field evolution time shorter than the other characteristic times of the system, such as the excited state lifetime, the time of flight of the atom through the cavity, and the cavity mode damping time. It was therefore not possible to test experimentally the fundamental theories of radiation-matter interaction, which predict, among other effects,

  1. (a)

    a modification of the spontaneous emission rate of a single atom in a resonant cavity,

  2. (b)

    oscillatory energy exchange between a single atom and the cavity mode, and

  3. (c)

    the disappearance and quantum revival of Rabi nutation induced in a single atom by a resonant field.

The situation has drastically changed in the last few years with the introduction of frequency-tunable lasers, which can excite large populations of highly excited atomic states characterized by a high principal quantum number n of the valence electron. These states are generally called Rydberg states, since their energy levels can be described by the simple Rydberg formula.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sektion Physik, Universität München, 85748, Garching, Fed. Rep. of Germany

    O. Benson, G. Raithel & H. Walther

  2. Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, 85748, Garching, Fed. Rep. of Germany

    O. Benson, G. Raithel & H. Walther

Authors
  1. O. Benson
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  2. G. Raithel
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  3. H. Walther
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Ames Laboratory, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA

    Costas M. Soukoulis

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA

    Costas M. Soukoulis

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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Benson, O., Raithel, G., Walther, H. (1996). From Micromaser to Microlaser. In: Soukoulis, C.M. (eds) Photonic Band Gap Materials. NATO ASI Series, vol 315. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1665-4_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1665-4_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7245-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-1665-4

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