Preparing Fock states in the micromaser

In this paper we give a survey of our experiments performed with the micromaser on the generation of Fock states. Three methods can be used for this purpose: the trapping states leading to Fock states in a continuous wave operation; state reduction of a pulsed pumping beam and finally using a pulsed pumping beam to produce Fock states on demand where trapping states stabilize the photon number. The latter method is discussed in detail by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the maser system. The results of the simulations are presented in a video. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.