Strong-field spatial intensity-intensity correlations of light scattered from regular structures of atoms

Abstract

Photon correlations and cross-correlations of light scattered by a regular structure of strongly driven atoms are investigated. At strong driving, the scattered light separates into distinct spectral bands, such that each band can be treated as independent, thus extending the set of observables. We focus on second-order intensity-intensity correlation functions in two- and multi-atom systems. We demonstrate that for a single two-photon detector as, e.g., in lithography, increasing the driving field intensity leads to an increased spatial resolution of the second-order two-atom interference pattern. We show that the cross-correlations between photons emitted in the spectral sidebands violate Cauchy-Schwartz inequalities, and that their emission ordering cannot be predicted. Finally, the results are generalized for multi-particle structures, where we find results different from those in a Dicke-type sample.