TY - JOUR
T1 - Cavity-modified spontaneous emission
T2 - From Rabi oscillations to exponential decay
AU - Gie\Sen, H.
AU - Berger, J. D.
AU - Mohs, G.
AU - Meystre, P.
AU - Yelin, S. F.
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - We revisit the problem of spontaneous emission by a two-level system in a cavity, concentrating in particular on those aspects associated with the finite propagation time of light between the atom and the cavity boundaries. We find that spontaneous emission always occurs first at the free space rate and there is then an abrupt change in these dynamics when light reflected by the cavity mirrors returns to the atom, leading to interference effects that result either in an enhancement or a reduction of this rate or in a periodic exchange of excitation between the atom and the cavity field. From this point of view, reversible spontaneous emission in terms of single-mode “vacuum Rabi oscillations” can be interpreted as resulting from the interference between the multimode partial waves reflected at the cavity mirrors and the instantaneously radiated light.
AB - We revisit the problem of spontaneous emission by a two-level system in a cavity, concentrating in particular on those aspects associated with the finite propagation time of light between the atom and the cavity boundaries. We find that spontaneous emission always occurs first at the free space rate and there is then an abrupt change in these dynamics when light reflected by the cavity mirrors returns to the atom, leading to interference effects that result either in an enhancement or a reduction of this rate or in a periodic exchange of excitation between the atom and the cavity field. From this point of view, reversible spontaneous emission in terms of single-mode “vacuum Rabi oscillations” can be interpreted as resulting from the interference between the multimode partial waves reflected at the cavity mirrors and the instantaneously radiated light.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevA.53.2816
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevA.53.2816
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0030125619
SN - 1050-2947
VL - 53
SP - 2816
EP - 2821
JO - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
JF - Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
IS - 4
ER -