Non-simultaneity in two-photon coincidence spectroscopy

Abstract

Photon coincidence spectroscopy relies on detecting multiphoton emissions from the combined atom-cavity system in atomic beam cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments. These multiphoton emissions from the cavity are nearly simultaneous approximately on the cavity lifetime scale. We determine the optimal time for the detection window of photon pairs in two-photon coincidence spectroscopy. If the window time is too short, some photon pairs will not be detected; if the window time is too long, too many nearly coincident independent single photons will be falsely interpreted as being a photon pair. The paper has been submitted to The European Physical Journal D.