Cold-Atom Physics Using Ultrathin Optical Fibers: Light-Induced Dipole Forces and Surface Interactions
- 16 October 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 99 (16), 163602
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.99.163602
Abstract
The strong evanescent field around ultrathin unclad optical fibers bears a high potential for detecting, trapping, and manipulating cold atoms. Introducing such a fiber into a cold-atom cloud, we investigate the interaction of a small number of cold cesium atoms with the guided fiber mode and with the fiber surface. Using high resolution spectroscopy, we observe and analyze light-induced dipole forces, van der Waals interaction, and a significant enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of the atoms. The latter can be assigned to the modification of the vacuum modes by the fiber.Keywords
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