title: Creation and measurement of a coherent superposition of quantum states.
abstract: We demonstrate experimental techniques for creating and measuring a coherent superposition of two degenerate atomic states with equal amplitudes in metastable neon. Starting from state (3)P(0), we create adiabatically a coherent superposition of the magnetic sublevels M=+/-1 of the state (3)P(2) using a tripod stimulated Raman adiabatic passage scheme. The measurement is based on the coupling of the levels (3)P(2)<-->(3)P(1) by a linearly polarized laser, followed by the detection of the population in the (3)P(2)(M=+/-2) states as a function of the polarization angle of that laser.
authors.affiliation: Fachbereich Physik der Universität, Erwin-Schrödinger-Strasse, 67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany. vewinger@physik.uni-kl.de
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vewinger
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heinz
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garcia Fernandez
authors.forename: Nikolay V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Vitanov
authors.forename: Klaas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bergmann