Eur. Phys. J. D (2012) 66: 190
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2012-30293-y

Regular Article

Generation of a wave packet tailored to efficient free space excitation of a single atom

¹ Institute of Optics, Information and Photonics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
² Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
³ Laboratoire Collisions Agrégats Réactivité, UMR5589, Université Paul Sabatier, Bât. 3R1b4, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 09, France

^a e-mail: markus.sondermann@physik.uni-erlangen.de

Received: 7 May 2012
Published online: 20 July 2012

Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of an optical dipole wave suitable for the process of efficiently coupling single quanta of light and matter in free space. We employ a parabolic mirror for the conversion of a transverse beam mode to a focused dipole wave and show the required spatial and temporal shaping of the mode incident onto the mirror. The results include a proof of principle correction of the parabolic mirror’s aberrations. For the application of exciting an atom with a single photon pulse, we demonstrate the creation of a suitable temporal pulse envelope. We infer coupling strengths of 89% and success probabilities of up to 87% for the application of exciting a single atom for the current experimental parameters.