Coherent Control in Cavity QED

Abstract

Advances in cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED) have allowed us to trap single cesium atoms within the field of a small optical resonator and to observe their strongly coupled interaction. However, in order to take advantage of this interaction as a resource for quantum information, we need to develop new techniques for control of the atom-cavity system. This thesis presents a series of experiments with the common goal of coherent control. We have demonstrated the cooling of the center-of-mass motion of a trapped atom to its vibrational ground state along the cavity axis, and we have quantified the reversible nature of the process which maps a coherent state at the cavity input onto an atomic state. A new optical pumping method which exploits incoherent Raman transitions now allows us to prepare a trapped atom in any desired Zeeman state. I detail the technical steps which have enabled these results, including a conditional loading scheme which confirms the presence of at most one atom in the cavity. I outline our current efforts to characterize ground state population transfer via Raman transitions, which we hope will provide the basis for entanglement generation between atomic Zeeman states and photon polarization states. Two separate projects to construct new cavities and vacuum chamber systems are also discussed in the framework of future experiment design.