Atom detection and photon production in a scalable, open, optical microcavity

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates atom detection and photon generation using a scalable microfabricated optical cavity, advancing quantum information processing by integrating atom-photon interactions into chip-scale devices.

Contribution

It introduces a microfabricated Fabry-Perot resonator capable of detecting single atoms and producing photons, combining scalability with direct fiber coupling.

Findings

Atom detection via changes in reflected light intensity and noise.

Photon emission triggered by transverse excitation laser.

First steps towards integrated quantum optical microcavity networks.

Abstract

A microfabricated Fabry-Perot optical resonator has been used for atom detection and photon production with less than 1 atom on average in the cavity mode. Our cavity design combines the intrinsic scalability of microfabrication processes with direct coupling of the cavity field to single-mode optical waveguides or fibers. The presence of the atom is seen through changes in both the intensity and the noise characteristics of probe light reflected from the cavity input mirror. An excitation laser passing transversely through the cavity triggers photon emission into the cavity mode and hence into the single-mode fiber. These are first steps towards building an optical microcavity network on an atom chip for applications in quantum information processing.