Related papers: Single atom trapping and control inside a nanosize…
We experimentally demonstrate optical dipole trapping of a cloud of cold atoms by means of a dynamically coupled mode of a high-finesse cavity. We show that the trap requires a collective action of the atoms, i.e. a single atom would not be…
We show that single-atoms can be trapped on the surface of a subwavelength-diameter silica-fiber, an optical nanofiber, without any external field, and that single photons spontaneously emitted from the atoms can be readily detected through…
By integrating the techniques of laser cooling and trapping with those of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), single Cesium atoms have been trapped within the mode of a small, high finesse optical cavity in a regime of strong coupling.…
Using cold atoms to simulate strongly interacting quantum systems represents an exciting frontier of physics. However, as atoms are nominally neutral point particles, this limits the types of interactions that can be produced. We propose to…
Laser-cooled atoms coupled to nanophotonic structures constitute a powerful research platform for the exploration of new regimes of light-matter interaction. While the initialization of the atomic internal degrees of freedom in these…
We show that an optimized loading of a cold ensemble of rubidium-87 atoms from a magnetic trap into an optical dipole trap sustained by a single, far-red-detuned mode of a high-Q optical cavity can be efficient despite the large volume…
The energy-level structure of a single atom strongly coupled to the mode of a high-finesse optical cavity is investigated. The atom is stored in an intracavity dipole trap and cavity cooling is used to compensate for inevitable heating. Two…
We demonstrate a new feedback algorithm to cool a single neutral atom trapped inside a standing-wave optical cavity. The algorithm is based on parametric modulation of the confining potential at twice the natural oscillation frequency of…
Quantum vacuum forces dictate the interaction between individual atoms and dielectric surfaces at nanoscale distances. For example, their large strengths typically overwhelm externally applied forces, which makes it challenging to…
We propose a novel Sisyphus cooling scheme for atoms confined in a far off resonance optical dipole trap. Utilizing the differential trap-induced AC Stark shift, two electronic levels of the atom are resonantly coupled by a cooling laser…
Optical trapping has proven to be a valuable experimental technique for precisely controlling small dielectric objects. However, due to their very nature, conventional optical traps are diffraction limited and require high intensities to…
We present experimental techniques and results related to the optimization and characterization of our nanofiber-based atom trap [Vetsch et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 203603 (2010)]. The atoms are confined in an optical lattice which is…
A double-helix optical trapping potential for cold atoms can be straightforwardly created inside the evanescent field of an optical nanofiber. It suffices to send three circularly polarized light fields through the nanofiber; two…
Microscopically controlled neutral atoms in optical tweezers and lattices have led to exciting advances in the study of quantum information and quantum many-body systems. The light shifts of atomic levels from the trapping potential in…
Optically trapped dielectric objects are well suited for reaching the quantum regime of their center of mass motion in an ultra-high vacuum environment. We show that ground state cooling of an optically trapped nanosphere is achievable when…
We investigate quantum control of a single atom in an optical tweezer trap created by a tightly focused optical beam. We show that longitudinal polarization components in the dipole trap arising from the breakdown of the paraxial…
In cold atomic systems, fast and high-resolution microscopy of individual atoms is crucial, since it can provide direct information on the dynamics and correlations of the system. Here, we demonstrate nanosecond-scale two-dimensional…
We propose an atom-cavity chip that combines laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms with magnetic microtraps and waveguides to deliver a cold atom to the mode of a fiber taper coupled photonic bandgap (PBG) cavity. The feasibility of…
We experimentally investigate the interaction between one and two atoms and the field of a high-finesse optical resonator. Laser-cooled caesium atoms are transported into the cavity using an optical dipole trap. We monitor the interaction…
Single-photon cooling is a recently introduced method to cool atoms and molecules for which standard methods might not be applicable. We numerically examine this method in a two-dimensional wedge trap as well as in a two-dimensional…