In situ characterization of an optically thick atom-filled cavity

JHD Munns, C Qiu, PM Ledingham, IA Walmsley, J Nunn, DJ Saunders

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

A means for precise experimental characterization of the dielectric susceptibility of an atomic gas inside
an optical cavity is important for the design and operation of quantum light-matter interfaces, particularly in
the context of quantum information processing. Here we present a numerically optimized theoretical model to
predict the spectral response of an atom-filled cavity, accounting for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous
broadening at high optical densities. We investigate the regime where the two broadening mechanisms are
of similar magnitude, which makes the use of common approximations invalid. Our model agrees with an
experimental implementation with warm caesium vapor in a ring cavity. From the cavity response, we are able to
extract important experimental parameters, for instance the ground-state populations, total number density, and
the magnitudes of both homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening.
Original languageEnglish
Article number013858
Pages (from-to)013858
Number of pages1
JournalPhysical Review A
Volume93
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

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