Physics - Finding Light in Dark Atomic Clouds
Finding Light in Dark Atomic Clouds May 10, 2021• Physics 14, 69 Researchers have prepared and manipulated subradiant states—in which collective effects slow down the decay of excited atoms—in a dense atomic cloud. Figure 1: (Left) An atom in an excited state eventually—unavoidably—decays to its ground state, releasing a photon. (Right) In a collection of excited atoms separated by less than the transition wavelength, destructive interference in their photon emission prevents their collective decay from the excited state ( e) to the ground state ( g).(Left) An atom in an exci...
Source: aps.org