Quantum Interferences in Cooperative Dicke Emission from Spatial Variation of Laser Phase

TL;DR

This paper discovers a new quantum interference effect in the spontaneous emission of two atoms driven by a laser, significantly impacting spectral features and entanglement due to spatial phase variation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantum interference mechanism caused by laser phase variation, affecting emission spectra and entanglement in a two-atom system.

Findings

Quantum interference modifies spectral emission features.

Entanglement is significantly affected by the interference.

Dynamic coupling of atomic states is induced by laser phase variation.

Abstract

We report generation of a new quantum interference effect in spontaneous emission from a resonantly driven system of two identical two-level atoms due to the spatial variation of the laser phase at the positions of the atoms. This interference affects significantly the spectral features of the emitted radiation and the quantum entanglement in the system. The interference leads to dynamic coupling of the populations and coherences in a basis, determined by the laser phase and represents a kind of vacuum mediated super-exchange between the symmetric and antisymmetric states.