# Driving-induced population trapping and linewidth narrowing via the quantum Zeno effect

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how the quantum Zeno effect can suppress spontaneous emission in a driven three-level system within an optical cavity, leading to narrower emission linewidths and potential applications in quantum control.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel method to control spontaneous emission using the quantum Zeno effect in cavity QED systems, with observable spectral consequences.

## Key findings

- Suppression of spontaneous emission via quantum Zeno effect
- Observation of subnatural linewidth emission spectra
- Potential applications in quantum information processing

## Abstract

We investigate the suppression of spontaneous emission from a driven three-level system embedded in an optical cavity via a manifestation of the quantum Zeno effect. Strong resonant coupling of the lower two levels to an external optical field results in a decrease of the exponential decay rate of the third upper level. We show that this effect has observable consequences in the form of emission spectra with subnatural linewidths, which should be measurable using, for example, quantum dot--cavity systems in currently obtainable parameter regimes. These results constitute a novel method to control an inherently irreversible and dissipative process, and may be useful in applications requiring the control of single photon arrival times and wavepacket extent.