Spontaneous-relaxation-rate suppression in cavities with PT symmetry
Abstract
We compute the spontaneous relaxation rate of a two-level atom in a planar cavity with parity (P ) and parity-time (PT ) symmetry. We find that at the center of a PT -symmetric cavity the evanescent contribution to the relaxation rate is greatly suppressed. As this is the dominant relaxation pathway for cavities smaller than the transition wavelength, PT -symmetric microcavities are able to suppress the spontaneous relaxation rate dramatically and, in some cases, reduce it to below the free-space level. The ability to reduce the relaxation rate and lengthen the excited-state lifetime has many applications in quantum control and can, for example, be used to increase atomic trapping times, improve photonic storage, and help maintain the coherence of atomic qubits.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review A
- Pub Date:
- March 2019
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevA.99.033853
- Bibcode:
- 2019PhRvA..99c3853A