An artificial atom interacting with its mirror image


Photographer: Moa Carlsson and Lisa Kinnerud, Krantz NanoArt

The lifetime of an atom can be extended up to ten times by placing it in front of a short circuit that acts as a mirror. The artificial atom consists of a superconducting circuit on a silicon chip. The interaction between the atom and its mirror image modifies the vacuum fluctuations seen by the atom and thus its lifetime.

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