A scheme is proposed for two-dimensional atom localization in the subwavelength domain via controlled spontaneous emission. We consider a five-level M-type atomic system interacting with two orthogonal standing-wave laser fields and the vacuum of the radiation field. The interaction of the atom with space-dependent standing-wave fields can provide information about the position of the atom passing through, thus leading to atom localization. It is found that the localization is significantly improved due to the interference effect between the spontaneous decay channels and the dynamically induced quantum interference generated by the two standing-wave fields. By properly varying the system parameters, we can achieve high-precision and high-resolution atom localization.

• Received 23 March 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.83.063834