Journal of Modern Optics

ISSN: 0950-0340 (Print) 1362-3044 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tmop20

Three-dimensional atom localization in a five-level

M-type atomic system

Yihong Qi , Fengxue Zhou , Ting Huang , Yueping Niu & Shangqing Gong

To cite this article: Yihong Qi , Fengxue Zhou , Ting Huang , Yueping Niu & Shangqing Gong
(2012) Three-dimensional atom localization in a five-level M-type atomic system, Journal of Modern
Optics, 59:12, 1092-1099, DOI: 10.1080/09500340.2012.697203

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09500340.2012.697203

Published online: 21 Jun 2012.

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Journal of Modern Optics
Vol. 59, No. 12, 10 July 2012, 1092–1099

Three-dimensional atom localization in a five-level M-type atomic system

Yihong Qi, Fengxue Zhou, Ting Huang, Yueping Niu* and Shangqing Gong*
Department of Physics, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
(Received 16 March 2012; final version received 9 May 2012)

By using three mutually perpendicular standing-wave fields, we propose a scheme for three-dimensional (3D)
subwavelength atom localization in a five-level M-type atomic system. Based on the electromagnetically induced
transparency, position probability distribution of the atom in 3D space could be determined via measuring the
probe absorption which is proportional to the filter function. It is shown that patterns of 3D atom localization
depends sensitively on the coupling schemes of the standing-wave fields. When the standing-wave fields couple
three different transitions, the same atom localization patterns are formed in the eight subspaces of the 3D space.
While all the standing-wave fields are applied on one transition, we can realize different atom localization
patterns in the eight subspaces. From the view of the xy plane, various symmetric or asymmetric atom
localization patterns could be formed at different z positions by adjusting the parameters of the laser fields.
Keywords: atom localization; electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT); probe absorption

1. Introduction localization schemes have been studied by using the

Research of quantum coherence and interference based
phenomena is a subject of great interest in quantum
optics and atomic physics in recent years [1–6]. Due to
quantum interference effects, some intriguing phenom-
ena, for example electromagnetically induced trans-
parency (EIT) [2,5], coherent population trapping
(CPT) [7], lasing without inversion (LWI) [8], enhance-
ment of Kerr nonlinearity [9–13], all optical-switching
[14–16] and so on, are produced in atomic systems.
Furthermore, with the enhanced Kerr nonlinearity,
optical solitons could be generated under very low light
intensity in atomic systems [17–25]. The standing-wave
field also plays a key role in the coherent control of the
interaction between atoms and optical fields [26–29].
By virtue of standing-wave fields, considerable effort is
devoted to atom localization or the measurement of
atomic position, and various schemes, including
schemes based on EIT [30,31], CPT [32,33], stimulated
Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) [34], etc., have
been investigated.
Precise spatial position measurement of an atom
passing through standing-wave fields has attracted
considerable attention recently, as it has a number of
applications in laser cooling and trapping of neutral
atoms [35], atom lithography [36], measurement of
atomic wave function [37], and so on. When an atom
interacts with standing-wave fields, their interaction
produces quantities relating to the spatial position
information of the atom. Several subwavelength
measurement of the phase-shift [38–40] or the position
dependent internal states of the atom [41–44] after the
passage of the atom through a nonresonant standing-
wave field. Thomas and coworkers have suggested to
use a spatially varying potential to realize subwave-
length atom localization [45–47]. Using resonant
atom–field coupling, schemes of atom localization by
virtue of the measurement of resonance fluorescence,
the spontaneous or absorption spectrum during the
motion of the atom in the standing-wave field [48–54]
were also proposed. Due to the spatial position-
dependent atom–field interaction, population
[32,55–57] and gain [58] can also give the position
information of an atom in standing-wave fields
and therefore achieve subwavelength or sub-half-
wavelength atom localization. For more practical
applications, two-dimensional (2D) atom localization
has been demonstrated in two orthogonal standing-
wave fields via the measurement of different cavity
mode quadratures, population of atomic level, probe
absorption and spontaneous emission spectra [59–66].
In this paper, based on electromagnetically induced
transparency, we demonstrate the three-dimensional
(3D) subwavelength localization of an atom in a five-
level M-type system due to interaction with a probe
laser field and three resonant standing-wave fields. As
the standing-waves are along x, y, z directions respec-
tively, via measuring the probe absorption, informa-
tion about the atom position in 3D space could be

*Corresponding authors. Email: niuyp@ecust.edu.cn; sqgong@ecust.edu.cn

ISSN 0950–0340 print/ISSN 1362–3044 online

ß 2012 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500340.2012.697203
http://www.tandfonline.com
 Journal of Modern Optics
(a)
2 4
Δp Δ1
Δ2
Ωp Ω s1 Ω s2
1 3
Figure 1. (a) Energy level diagram and laser excitation scheme of a five-level M-type atomic system. (b) Schematic diagram of
proper experimental setup.
detected. It is found that 3D atom localization depends
on the coupling schemes of the standing-wave fields. If
the standing-waves couple three different atomic
transitions, the localization patterns of the atom will
be the same in the eight subspaces (x, y, z), (x, y, z),
(x, y, z), (x, y, z), (x, y, z), (x, y, z), (x, y,
z), (x, y, z). Whereas if the standing-waves drive
the same atomic transition, different localization pat-
terns of the atom can be obtained in the eight
subspaces. When we consider only the atom localiza-
tion in the xy plane, various symmetric or asymmetric
localization patterns of the atom could be formed at
different z positions.
2. Theoretical model and equations
The proposed scheme of a weak probe field and three
perpendicular standing-wave fields interacting with a
five-level atom of M-type configuration is shown in
Figure 1. Three driven fields with Rabi frequencies Os1,
Os2 and Os3 couple the transitions j3i ! j2i, j3i ! j4i
and j5i ! j4i, respectively, while the weak probe field
with Rabi frequency Op couples the transition
j1i ! j2i. In the following discussion, we consider
two different interaction configurations between the
standing-waves and the atom. The first one is that we
take Os1, Os2 and Os3 as three orthogonal standing-
wave laser fields that couple three different atomic
transitions, respectively, i.e. Os1 ¼ O1 sin(k1x), Os2 ¼ O2
sin(k2y) and Os3 ¼ O3 sin(k3z). The second one is that
we take Os2 as the composition of three orthogonal
standing waves with the same frequency that drives
simultaneously the transition j3i ! j4i, while Os1 and
Os3 are two traveling waves, i.e. Os2 ¼ O2 [sin(kx) þ
sin(ky) þ sin(kz)], Os1 ¼ O1 and Os3 ¼ O3. As the Rabi
frequencies of the driven fields are dependent on the
space position, the interaction between the atom and
the laser fields become space-dependent in the 3D
space.
We consider that the transverse kinetic energy of
the atoms remains small compared with the interaction
1093
(b)
Δ3
Ω s3
x
5
z
y Ωp
energy and assume that the center-of-mass position
distribution of the atom is nearly uniform along the
directions of the standing-waves. Then, we can apply
the Raman–Nath approximation and neglect the
kinetic part of the atom in the Hamiltonian. Thus,
under the electric dipole and rotating-wave approxi-
mation, the Hamiltonian of the system in the interac-
tion picture can be written as
Hint ¼ h½Dp j2ih2j þ ðDp  D1 Þj3ih3j
þ ðDp  D1 þ D2 Þj4ih4j þ ðDp  D1 þ D2  D3 Þ
 j5ih5j  h½Op j2ih1j þ Os1 ðx, y, zÞj3ih2j
þ Os2 ðx, y, zÞj4ih3j þ Os3 ðx, y, zÞj5ih4j þ H:c:: ð1Þ
In Equation (1), the Rabi frequencies of the optical
fields are defined as Op ¼ (l21  ep)"p/2h, Os1 ¼
(l23  es1)"s1/2h, Os2 ¼ (l43  es2)"s2/2h and Os3 ¼
(l45  es3)"s3 /2h, where lij (i, j ¼ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) are the
electric-dipole matrix element associated with the
transition from j j i ! jii and eq (q ¼ p, s1, s2, s3) is
the polarization direction of the electric field compo-
nent with envelope amplitude "q. The corresponding
detunings of the optical fields are Dp ¼ !p  !21,
D1 ¼ !s1  !23, D2 ¼ Os2  !43 and D3 ¼ !s3  !45.
Note that during the interaction the atomic posi-
tion does not change directly and our localization
scheme only influences the internal states of the atom.
The dynamics of the system can be described by using
the probability amplitude method. Thus, the state
vector at time t for the system can be written as
ð
   
CðtÞ ¼ dx dy dz f ðx, y, zÞx, y, z ½A1 ðx, y, z; tÞj1i
þ A2 ðx, y, z; tÞj2i þ A3 ðx, y, z; tÞj3i
þ A4 ðx, y, z; tÞj4i þ A5 ðx, y, z; tÞj5i, ð2Þ
where Ai (i ¼ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is the time and spatial
position dependent probability amplitude for the atom
in level jii which provides the probability of finding the
atom in state jii and f(x, y, z) is the center-of-mass
wave function of the atom.
1094 Y. Qi et al.

From the interaction Hamiltonian of the system Then we can obtain the susceptibility at the probe
and the atom–field state vector, the time evolution of frequency  ¼ N12 A1 A2 ="0 Ep . The imaginary part of
the probability amplitudes are easily derived by solving the susceptibility, which accounts for probe absorp-
the Schrödinger wave equation: tion, can be written as

 2 Nj12 j2
@A1 00 ðx, y, zÞ ¼ f ðx, y, zÞ Im A1 ðt ! 1ÞA2 ðt ! 1Þ
¼ iOp A2 , ð3Þ "0 hOp
@t
 2 Nj12 j2 G2 =20 h
  ¼ f ðx, y, zÞ 2 32 ,
@A2 G2
¼ i Dp  i A2  iOp A1  iOs1 ðx, y, zÞA3 , 6
6Dp  O2s1 ðx, y, zÞ 7
7 þ G22
@t 2 4 O2 ðx, y, zÞ
s2
5 4
ðDp D1 Þ
O2 ðx, y, zÞ
ð4Þ ðDp D1 þD2 Þ s3
Dp D1 þD2 D3

ð9Þ
@A3  
¼ i Dp  D1 A3  iOs1 ðx, y, zÞA2  iOs2 ðx, y, zÞA4 , where N is the atomic density, and 12 is the electric
@t
ð5Þ dipole matrix element of the j1i ! j2i transition. Thus,
in principle, the measurement of position-dependent
  probe absorption can provide information on the
@A4 G4 atomic position and lead to atom localization. From
¼ i Dp  D1 þ D2  i A4
@t 2 Equation (9), we can see that 00 is dependent on space
 iOs2 ðx, y, zÞA3  iOs3 ðx, y, zÞA5 , ð6Þ position (x, y, z) via the standing-wave fields, the probe
detuning, as well as detunings and Rabi frequencies of
  the driven fields. Actually, we can find that 00 is in
@A5 G5
¼ i Dp  D1 þ D2  D3  i A5  iOs3 ðx, y, zÞA4 , direct proportion to the factor
@t 2
ð7Þ 1
F ðx, y, zÞ ¼ 2 32 ,
where G2, G4 and G5 denote the spontaneous decay
6 O2s1 ðx, y, zÞ 7 G2
rates of levels j2i, j4i and j5i, respectively. In order to 6Dp  7 þ 2
4 O2 ðx, y, zÞ
s2
5 4
obtain a relatively simple expression, we neglect G4 and ðDp D1 Þ
O2 ðx, y, zÞ
ðDp D1 þD2 Þ s3
G5 in our calculations, which is reasonable as long as Dp D1 þD2 D3

G4 and G5 are very small compared with G2. By taking ð10Þ

the levels j1S0, F ¼ 1/2, mF ¼  1/2i, j1P1, F ¼ 1/2,
which can be defined as the filter function. Therefore,
mF ¼  1/2i, j1S0, F ¼ 1/2, mF ¼ 1/2i, j3P1, F ¼ 3/2,
the position probability distribution of the atom as it
mF ¼  1/2i and j3P0, F ¼ 1/2, mF ¼ 1/2i in a 171Yb
passes through in the standing waves is determined by
atom as j1i, j2i, j3i, j4i and j5i, respectively, we can
F (x, y, z). Measuring the filter function, i.e. the probe
realize this case easily. The decay rate of level j2i
absorption 00 (x, y, z), can directly provide the position
(G2 ¼ 28.0 MHz) is much larger than that of j4i (G4 
information of the atom in 3D space. By adjusting the
182.0 kHz) and j5i (G5  44 mHz) in such an atom, so
system parameters, we can control the atom localiza-
the latter ones could be safely neglected.
tion behavior to increase the detecting probability and
We take the magnitude of the probe field Rabi
to enhance the localization precision in 3D space.
frequency Op to be sufficiently small compared with
the Rabi frequencies Os1, Os2 and Os3 of the driven
fields. The atom is initially populated in the ground
state j1i. Under the weak-field approximation, we have
3. Results and discussion
A1(x, y, z;t)  1 for all of the time. Then in the long-
time limit, we get the solution of A2(x, y, z;t) In this section, we investigate the localization behavior
expressed as of the atom numerically in 3D space via analyzing the
filter function F (x, y, z), which directly reflects the
A2 ðx, y, z; t ! 1Þ conditional position probability distribution. The filter
Op function could be detected via measuring the probe
¼ :
G2 O2s1 ðx, y, zÞ absorption. According to Equation (10), F (x, y, z) is
Dp  i 
2 O2s2 ðx, y, zÞ determined by the probe detuning, and detunings and
ðDp  D1 Þ 
O2s3 ðx, y, zÞ Rabi frequencies of the driven fields. Therefore, by
ðDp  D1 þ D2 Þ 
Dp  D1 þ D2  D3
controlling those parameters, a variety of 3D atom
ð8Þ localization patterns can be achieved. It is easily
 Journal of Modern Optics 1095

(a) (b) (c) (d )

−1

k 3z/π = 0
k 2 y/ π
0

0.8
1
−1

k 3 z/ π = 0.25
k 2 y/ π 0.6
0
0.4
1
−1 0.2

k 3 z/ π = 0.5
k 2 y/ π

1
−1 0 1 −1 0 1 −1 0 1 −1 0 1
k1x/ π k 1x/ π k1x/ π k 1 x/ π

Figure 2. Variation of the filter function F (x, y, z) in the xy plane at some different z positions with the probe detuning (a)
Dp ¼ 3, (b) Dp ¼ 4.9, (c) Dp ¼ 6, and (d) Dp ¼ 5 (21/2). Other parameters are G2 ¼ 2, O1 ¼ O2 ¼ O3 ¼ Os ¼ 5, and D1 ¼ D2 ¼ D3 ¼ 0.

derived that the maxima of the filter function at the sin(k1 x), Os2 (x, y, z) ¼ O2 sin(k2 y) and Os3 (x, y,
(x, y, z) position satisfy the following relation z) ¼ O3 sin(k3 z), from Equation (12) we get

O2s1 ðx, y, zÞ
Dp 
O2s2 ðx, y, zÞ
ðDp  D1 Þ  O2 ðx, y, zÞ
ðDp D1 þD2 ÞDp Ds3 þD D
1 2 3
However, it is difficult to get analytical solutions of the
(x, y, z) positions from Equation (11). We will only
present numerical results. The assumption that the
driven fields are all in resonance, i.e. D1 ¼ D2 ¼ D3 ¼ 0 is
used in our calculation, which is not necessary for the
atom localization but will simplify the calculation.
Then Equation (11) is reduced to
D4p  D2p ðO2s1 þ O2s2 þ O2s3 Þ þ O2s1 O2s3 ¼ 0:
In the following discussion, we will consider two
different situations: the three standing-wave fields
couple three different transitions and the three stand-
ing-wave fields couple the same atomic transition. In
order to display the results clearly, we consider only
the atom localization in the xy plane for some different
z positions.
3.1. The three standing-wave fields couple different
atomic transitions
When the three standing-wave fields drive different
atomic transitions, respectively, i.e. Os1 (x, y, z) ¼ O1
D4p  D2p ðO21 sin2 k1 x þ O22 sin2 k2 y þ O23 sin2 k3 zÞ
¼ 0:
ð11Þ
þ O21 O23 sin2 k1 x sin2 k3 z ¼ 0: ð13Þ
We first consider a simple situation that the
standing-wave fields have the same amplitude by
assuming O1 ¼ O2 ¼ O3 ¼ Os, then Equation (13) is
reduced to
D4p  D2p O2s ðsin2 k1 x þ sin2 k2 y þ sin2 k3 zÞ
þ O4s sin2 k1 x sin2 k3 z ¼ 0: ð14Þ
From Equation (14), it is evident that the filter
ð12Þ function varies with k3z periodically with the period
of /2. So we need only consider the variation of the
filter function in the xy plane in the region of k3z 2 [0,
/2]. By changing the probe detuning Dp, we can
obtain four types of different distribution patterns
of F (x, y, z). (1) jDpj 2 (0, Os): at k3 z0 ¼ 0, l,
sin2k1x þ sin2k2y 2 (0,1), the peak maxima of F (x, y)
locate around the intersections of nodes of the
two orthogonal standing-wave fields where (k1x,
k2y) ¼ (m, n) and the filter function in the upper
figure of Figure 2(a) has a parentheses-like pattern and
leads to the localization of the atom at these circles; at
k3z0 ¼ l /4, the localization pattern of the atom is
composed of several elliptical ring or half-ring (the
middle figure of Figure 2(a)); at k3z0 ¼ l /2, the
filter function looks like crater chains (the bottom
1096
(a) (b)
−1
k 2 y/ π
0
1
−1
k2 y/ π
0
1
−1
k 2 y/ π
1
−1 0 1 −1
k1x/ π
Figure 3. Variation of the filter function F (x, y, z) in the xy plane at some different z positions with the probe detuning (a)
Dp ¼ 3, (b) Dp ¼ 4.9, and (c) Dp ¼ 6. Other parameters are G2 ¼ 2, O1 ¼ O3 ¼ 5, O2 ¼ 3, and D1 ¼ D2 ¼ D3 ¼ 0.
figure of Figure 2(a)). (2) jDpj ¼ Os (In the numerical
calculation, we use jDpj  Os to avoid computing error.
The result is similar to the case of jDpj ¼ Os.): at
k3z0 ¼ 0, l , sin2k1x þ sin2k2y ¼ 1, the filter function
has a cross-like pattern with peak maxima determined
by k1x þ k2y ¼ (2m þ 1)/2 or k1x  k2y ¼ (2n þ 1)/2
(as shown in the upper figure of Figure 2(b)); at
k3z0 ¼ l /4, the spaces between the crosses become
larger than that of the case of k3z0 ¼ 0, l (the middle
figure of Figure 2(b)); at k3z0 ¼ l /2, the localiza-
tion pattern of the atom is like dripping appearing in
the middle and the edge of the figure (the bottom figure
of Figure 2(b)). (3) jDpj 2 (Os, 21/2 Os): at k3z0 ¼ 0, l ,
sin2k1x þ sin2k2y 2 (1, 2), the filter function shows a
craterlike pattern and gets maxima at positions around
the intersections of the antinodes where (k1x,
k2y) ¼ [(2m þ 1)/2, (2n þ 1)/2] (as shown in the
upper figure of Figure 2(c)); at k3z0 ¼ l /4 and at
k3z0 ¼ l /2, the localization pattern of the atom
becomes sickles with different spacing (the middle and
bottom figures of Figure 2(c)). (4) jDpj ¼ 21/2 Os: at
k3z0 ¼ 0, l, the solutions of Equation (14) are sin
(k1x) ¼ 1 and sin (k2y) ¼ 1, then the filter function
has a spike-like structure and the maxima of the peaks
lie at positions (k1x, k2y) ¼ [(2m þ 1)/2, (2n þ 1)/2];
at k3z0 ¼ l /4, the filter function displays four
rings; at k3z0 ¼ l /2, the filter function looks like
two ‘8’.
Then we consider the case of O1 ¼ O3 6¼ O2, which
results in a different atom localization pattern com-
pared with the case mentioned above. In the case of
Dp ¼ 3, as shown in Figure 3(a), the localization
pattern of the atom displays different chain-like
Y. Qi et al.
(c)
k 3 z/ π = 0
0.8
k 3 z/ π = 0.25
0.6
0.4
0.2
k 3 z/ π = 0.5
0 1 −1 0 1
k 1x/ π k 1x/ π
structures at k3z0 ¼ 0, l and k3z0 ¼ l /4, and it
displays a wavelike pattern at k3z0 ¼ l /2. When
the probe detuning approximately satisfies the equa-
tion of Dp ¼ 5, the patterns of the filter function are
similar to glasses at k3z0 ¼ 0, l and k3z0 ¼ l /4,
and it has a dripping-like pattern at k3z0 ¼ l /2 (the
results are shown in Figure 3(b), where we have used
Dp ¼ 4.9 in the calculation for the same reason as in the
derivation of Figure 2(b)). When Dp ¼ 6, the filter
function shows spike-like patterns at k3z0 ¼ 0, l and
k3z0 ¼ l /4, while at k3z0 ¼ l /2 it has also a
similar craterlike structure as in the upper figure of
Figure 2(c) (see Figure 3(c)).
3.2. The three standing-wave fields couple the same
atomic transition
When the three standing-wave fields drive simulta-
neously the same atomic transition j2i ! j4i, i.e.
Os2 ¼ O2(sinkx þ sinky þ sinkz), Os1 ¼ O1 and Os3 ¼ O3,
from Equation (12) we get
D4p  D2p ½O21 þ O22 ðsin kx þ sin ky þ sin kzÞ2 þ O23 
þ O21 O23 ¼ 0: ð15Þ
For simplicity, we consider the standing-wave field and
the other two driven fields have the same amplitude,
i.e. O1 ¼ O2 ¼ O3 ¼ Os. Then, Equation (15) is trans-
formed into
D4p  D2p O2s ½2 þ ðsin kx þ sin ky þ sin kzÞ2  þ O4s ¼ 0:
ð16Þ

(a) (b)
−1
ky/ π
0
1
−1
ky/ π
0
1 0.6
−1
ky/ π
0
1
−1
ky/ π
1
−1
ky/π
1
−1 0 1 −1
kx/π kx/π
Figure 4. Variation of the filter function F (x, y, z) in the xy plane at some different z positions with the probe detuning (a)
Dp ¼ 3, (b) Dp ¼ 4.9, (c) Dp ¼ 6, (d) Dp ¼ 5 (21/2), and (e) Dp ¼ 12. Other parameters are G2 ¼ 2, O1 ¼ O2 ¼ O3 ¼ 5, and
D1 ¼ D2 ¼ D3 ¼ 0.
In the case that the three standing-waves couple
different transitions, for a given probe detuning Dp, the
values of the filter function are the same at the four
positions ( x, y) for a plane of certain z, which gives
rise to equal probability distribution in the four
quadrants (see Equation (13), Figures 2 and 3). The
symmetry of the results also appears for the xz plane at
certain y and for the yz plane at certain x. Actually, we
could make a conclusion that, in this case, the filter
function has equal probability distribution in eight
subspaces of the xyz space. However, according to
Equations (15) and (16), when the three standing-wave
fields drive the same atomic transition simultaneously,
the peak maxima of the filter function are no longer
equal in the eight subspaces, but there exists sev-
eral pairwise equal distributions, for example
F (x, y, z) ¼ F (x, y, z) and F (x, y, z) ¼ F (x,
y, z), and so on. In the following discussion, we will
also consider the variation of the filter function in the
xy plane for different z positions for simplicity.
Because the filter function varies with kz periodically
with the period of , we only consider the region of
kz 2 [/2, /2].
By varying the probe detuning Dp, we obtain
different localization patterns of F (x, y, z) at several
z positions as shown in Figure 4. It can be seen that the
filter function of the atom has unequal distribution in
the four quadrants of the xy plane in this case. For
Dp ¼ 3, with the increase of kz from  /2 to /2,
distribution of F (x, y, z) changes from mostly in
quadrants II and IV of the xy plane and little in
Journal of Modern Optics 1097
(c) (d ) (e)
kz/ π =
−0.5
0.8
−0.25
0
0.4
0.25
0.2
0.5
0 1 −1 0 1 −1 0 1 −1 0 1
kx/π kx/π kx/π
quadrants I and III to mostly in quadrants I and III
and little in quadrants II and IV, and then back to
mostly in quadrants II and IV and little in quadrants I
and III (see Figure 4(a)). When the probe detunings are
respectively Dp ¼ 4.9, Dp ¼ 6 and Dp ¼ 5(21/2), the filter
functions F (x, y, z) have similar distributions with the
only difference of either single line or double line
structure. And they distribute mostly in quadrants I
and III and little in quadrants II and IV at
kz ¼ /2, /4, and distributes mainly in quadrants
II and IV but little in quadrants I and III at kz ¼ 0 (see
Figures 4(b), (c) and (d )). While the probe detuning is
Dp ¼ 12, the filter function F (x, y, z) always distributes
in quadrants I and III (see Figure 4(e)). Furthermore,
from Figure 4, the filter function may even have the
pattern of a ring or two spike-like peaks by tuning the
probe detuning, which implies a great enhancement of
the probability of finding an atom.
As discussed above, the distribution of filter
function F (x, y, z) which reflects the position proba-
bility distribution of an atom, depends sensitively on
the coupling schemes of the standing wave fields.
Therefore, by adjusting the coupling schemes and
tuning the detunings of probe and driven fields as well
as the intensity of the driven fields, various patterns of
subwavelength atom localization in 3D space could be
achieved via the measurement of the probe absorption.
Compared with 2D atom localization, 3D atom
localization may further improve the localization
accuracy, which can even produce only a ring locali-
zation pattern at some certain cross-sections (as shown
1098
in Figure 4). On the other hand, 3D atom localization
provides the possibility of creating various localization
patterns at different cross-sections simultaneously,
which may be useful for atom lithography.
4. Conclusions
In conclusion, by employing three orthogonal stand-
ing-wave fields, we have proposed a 3D atom locali-
zation scheme in a five-level M-type atomic system.
Because of the 3D spatial dependence of atom–field
interaction, position information of the atom in 3D
space is displayed via measuring the filter function
which is proportional to the probe absorption. It is
shown that 3D atom localization depends sensitively
on the coupling schemes of the standing-wave fields.
When the standing-wave fields couple three different
transitions, the atom has the same localization pattern
in the eight subspaces of the 3D space. Or else, we can
realize different atom localization in the eight sub-
spaces by applying the standing-wave fields only on
one transition. From the view of the xy plane at
different z positions, symmetric atom localization is
formed in the case that the standing-waves are
coupling different atomic transition, while asymmetric
atom localization is realized in the case that the
standing-waves are coupling the same atomic transi-
tion. By controlling the probe detuning, and detunings
and Rabi frequencies of the driven fields, various atom
localization patterns could be achieved in 3D space.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Sciences
Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 60978013 and 11074263),
Shanghai Rising-Star Program (Grant No. 11QA1407400),
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No.
20110490684), the Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities (Grant No. WM1114024), and National
Laboratory for Infrared Physics, CAS (Grant No. 201101).
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