Ultracold ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}\text{atoms}$ are delivered into a high-finesse optical microcavity using a translating optical lattice trap and detected via the cavity field. The atoms are loaded into an optical lattice from a magneto-optic trap and transported $1.5\mathrm{cm}$ into the cavity. Our cavity satisfies the strong-coupling requirements for a single intracavity atom, thus permitting real-time observation of single atoms transported into the cavity. This transport scheme enables us to vary the number of intracavity atoms from $1\text{to}>100$ corresponding to a maximum atomic cooperativity parameter of 5400, the highest value ever achieved in an atom-cavity system. When many atoms are loaded into the cavity, optical bistability is directly measured in real-time cavity transmission.

• Received 4 September 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.69.051804