Untersuchung von Photonenzahlzustaenden mit dem Ein-Atom-Maser

The quantum mechanical description of the radiation field is based
on field states that are characterized by the number of quanta of
the radiation field, called photons. These states called photon
number states or Fock states consist of a fixed, integer number of
photons. They are eigenstates of the Hamiltonian of the radiation
field and therefore of fundamental importance to the quantum theory
of the electromagnetic field. Photon number states are those states
of the electromagnetic field that can be considered to be maximally
distant from classical field states. They show extreme
sub-Poissonian statistics and vanishing intensity noise. Thus due
to the uncertainty relation their phase is completely undefined.
These properties are called "intensity squeezing". Since the
foundation of the theory of quantum electrodynamics, photon number
states have been used in many theories as base states of the
electromagnetic field. Yet, so far there have been experimental
difficulties in the preparation and detection of these states that
could not be overcome. In consequence for a long time it has been
an unachieved goal of experimental quantum optics to produce,
maintain and detect such states. In this thesis the first
experimental production and the unambiguous measurement of photon
number states of an extremely long lived resonator field are
described. Three different methods are discussed, all of them using
the one-atom-maser apparatus, which examines the interaction of
single atoms of a weak thermal atomic beam with a single mode of a
microwave resonator with a quality factor of 4 discussed in this
thesis, shows how such a deterministic source for single photons
can be realized in a pulsed one-atom-maser experiment making use of
the dynamics of trapping states. Following the detailed description
of a theoretical model, a first experimental realization of the
source is shown. Here we achieve a creation probability of at least
83% for the one-photon Fock state. In addition in this mode the
maser can be considered as a source for single atoms in a certain
state. An extension of the optics and laser system of the
one-atom-maser that is currently under construction will allow for
an even higher yield of one-photon Fock states and also for the
deterministic production of higher order Fock states. This will
allow for many new interesting experiments using the described
methods.