Photon and spin dependence of the resonance line shape in the strong coupling regime

Abstract

We study the quantum dynamics of a spin ensemble coupled to cavity photons. Recently, related experimental results have been reported, showing the existence of the strong coupling regime in such systems. We study the eigenenergy distribution of the multi-spin system (following the Tavis–Cummings model) which shows a peculiar structure as a function of the number of cavity photons and of spins. We study how this structure causes changes in the spectrum of the admittance in the linear response theory, and also in the frequency dependence of the excited quantities in the stationary state under a probing field. In particular, we investigate how the structure of the higher excited energy levels changes the spectrum from a double-peak structure (the so-called vacuum-field Rabi splitting) to a single-peak structure. We also point out that the spin dynamics in the region of the double-peak structure corresponds to recent experiments using cavity ringing, while in the region of the single-peak structure, it corresponds to the coherent Rabi oscillation in a driving electromagnetic field. Using a standard Lindblad-type mechanism, we study the effect of dissipation on the line width and separation in the computed spectra. In particular, we study the relaxation of the total spin in the general case of a spin ensemble in which the total spin of the system is not specified. The theoretical results are correlated with experimental evidence of the strong coupling regime, achieved with a spin-1/2 ensemble.