Quantum jumps of light recording the birth and death of a photon in a cavity

Sébastien Gleyzes, Stefan Kuhr, Christine Guerlin, Julien Bernu, Samuel Deléglise, Ulrich Busk Hoff, Michel Brune (), Jean-Michel Raimond and Serge Haroche
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Sébastien Gleyzes: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Stefan Kuhr: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Christine Guerlin: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Julien Bernu: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Samuel Deléglise: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Ulrich Busk Hoff: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Michel Brune: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Jean-Michel Raimond: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Serge Haroche: Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France

Nature, 2007, vol. 446, issue 7133, 297-300

Abstract: Life and death of a photon In a microscopic quantum system under continuous observation, it should be possible to detect sudden changes or jumps in the quantum state of trapped particles. This has been done with particles with mass, like electrons and molecules, but it had not been possible for massless light quanta, since standard photodetectors absorb light, prohibiting repeated measurements of the same photon. This obstacle has now been overcome using a stream of non-absorbing atoms to probe microwave photons stored in a superconducting cavity. Sequences of hundreds of atoms, highly correlated in the same state, are interrupted by sudden state switchings. These telegraphic signals record the birth, life and death of individual photons. This work comes close to realizing Einstein's dream of a single photon stored in a box for times in the second range and weighed by a sensitive scale — a stream of atoms in this experiment.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05589

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