Spontaneous emission of “polarized” V-type three-level atoms strongly coupled with an optical cavity**Project supported by the National Basic Research Foundation of China (Grant No. 2011CB922002).

Abstract

Polarization, an intrinsic ingredient of photon, plays a critical role in its interaction with matter. A general polarization state can be an appropriate superposition of two basic polarization states, say, the vertical and horizontal linear polarized state. Here we study spontaneous emission of a V-type three-level atom (with two upper states close in energy level) strongly coupled with a single-mode damped optical cavity. By defining a general polarization state of atom as a specific superposition of the two upper quantum states, we can prepare atoms with linear polarization at arbitrary direction, left and right circular polarization, and left and right elliptical polarization, similar to photons. We find that the spontaneous emission of light from these “polarized” three-level atoms shows very different profiles of side and axis spectra. This means that the polarization state of three-level atoms can become an active ingredient to manipulate its interaction with light and control the quantum interference effect. Exploitation of the coherent superposition and interference of quantum states in “polarized” atoms would allow one to deeply explore new frontiers of light–matter interaction.