Controllable spontaneous emission spectrum in an artificial giant atom: Dark lines and bound states

Abstract

We study the spontaneous emission spectra of a few-level giant atom strongly coupled to a one-dimensional waveguide by employing variational and analytical approaches, which are beyond the rotating-wave approximation and the Markovian approximation. We show that the interference effects due to the multiple coupling points result in dark lines in spontaneous emission spectra of either two-level or three-level giant atoms regardless of whether there is a bound state or not. We illustrate that the generation of dark lines depends on the distance between the coupling points and their number. In the absence of a bound state, the dark lines can be used to suppress emission at a certain frequency in the spectrum. In the presence of a bound state, the total intensity of the emission spectrum can be significantly suppressed. The present results offer the possibility of control over the spontaneous emission with the dark lines due to the destructive interference in giant atoms. Published by the American Physical Society 2024