PREPARATION AND DETECTION OF MACROSCOPIC QUANTUM SUPERPOSITIONS BY 2-PHOTON FIELD-ATOM INTERACTIONS

We put forward a simple, feasible scheme for the preparation and subsequent detection of macroscopic quantum superposition (MQS) states. It is based on the two-photon model which obtains when a cascade of two atomic transitions is resonant with twice the field frequency. The initial conditions amount to a field in a mixed state characteristic of lasers or masers and an excited atom. The MQS is generated by a conditional measurement of the atomic excitation after an interaction time that determines the relative phase of the MQS components. Remarkably, the MQS is subsequently detected and its phase is inferred by measuring the excitation probability of a second, "probe," atom, as a function of its interaction time. The realization of the scheme in the optical domain, using dielectric microspheres, is discussed.