Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 666–669 (1987)Suppression of spontaneous decay at optical frequencies: Test of vacuum-field anisotropy in confined spaceSee Also: Erratum Received 11 November 1986; published in the issue dated 16 February 1987 The radiative decay of Cs atoms excited into the 5D5/2 level and passing between two metallic mirrors spaced by a 1.1-μm gap is observed to depend upon their angular momentum. Spontaneous emission at a wavelength of 3.49 μm is suppressed for the substates with maximum angular momentum normal to the mirrors, which survive without substantial decay during ∼13 natural lifetimes. The radiation rate is modified by application of a magnetic field which mixes sublevels having lifetimes in the gap. This experiment illustrates the anisotropy of the vacuum field in confined space. © 1987 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.58.666
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.58.666
PACS:
32.80.-t, 42.50.-p
See AlsoErratum: W. Jhe, A. Anderson, E. A. Hinds, D. Meschede, L. Moi, and S. Haroche, Suppression of Spontaneous Decay at Optical Frequencies: Test of Vacuum-Field Anisotropy in Confined Space, Phys. Rev. Lett. 58, 1497 (1987). |
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