Interference control of nonlinear excitation in a multiatom cavity QED system

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how quantum interference in a multi-atom cavity QED system can be used to selectively enhance or suppress nonlinear polariton excitation, enabling applications like all-optical switching.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control nonlinear excitation in cavity QED systems using quantum interference, supported by experimental validation with cold Rb atoms.

Findings

Resonant enhancement of nonlinear polariton excitation achieved

Suppression of linear excitation demonstrated

Potential for all-optical switching and phase modulation shown

Abstract

We show that by manipulating quantum interference in a multi-atom cavity QED system, the nonlinear excitation of the cavity-atom polariton can be resonantly enhanced while the linear excitation is suppressed. Under appropriate conditions, it is possible to selectively enhance or suppress the polariton excitation with two free-pace laser fields. We report an experiment with cold Rb atoms in an optical cavity and present experimental results that demonstrate such interference control of the cavity QED excitation and its direct applications for studies of all-optical switching and cross-phase modulation of the cavity transmitted light.