NONCLASSICAL FIELD-DYNAMICS IN PHOTONIC BAND STRUCTURES - ATOMIC-BEAM RESONANT INTERACTION WITH A SPATIALLY PERIODIC FIELD MODE

We consider the quantum electrodynamics of an atom uniformly moving through a single spatially periodic field mode. The shape and periodicity of the field modulation can be designed by an appropriate choice of a defect in a periodic structure that possesses a forbidden spectral band (a "photonic band gap"). The design of the periodic modulation can improve our control over the evolution and properties (e.g., photon statistics) of nonclassical "Schrodinger-cat" states of the field, generated by resonant interaction with the atom.