Optical cavity quantum electrodynamics

The article gives an introduction into some of the basic cavity QED concepts, highlights some recent achievements and addresses some of the perspectives opened up by the ability to precisely control individual atomic and photonic quantum objects. Optical cavity QED with its ability to detect individual atoms and single photons plays an increasingly important role for various applications. The importance of optical cavity QED for the advance of quantum electronics can be highlighted by the rapidly growing number of research groups, the exponentially increasing number of publications and citations, and the increasing number of cavity designs ranging from the standard standing-wave Fabry-Perot cavity with dielectric mirrors to nanostructured slabs with a photonic band gap and high-quality running-wave microtoroids with optical fibre coupling.