Related papers: Limitations of Nanotechnology for Atom Interferome…
The development of nanotechnology and atom optics relies on understanding how atoms behave and interact with their environment. Isolated atoms can exhibit wave-like (coherent) behaviour with a corresponding de Broglie wavelength and phase…
Four atom optics experiments that each serve to measure atom-surface interactions near nanofabricated gratings are presented here. In these experiments atoms in a beam travel within 25 nm of a material grating bar, and the analysis…
In atom optics a material structure is commonly regarded as an amplitude mask for atom waves. However, atomic diffraction patterns formed using material gratings indicate that material structures also operate as phase masks. In this study a…
The 1%-accurate calculations of the van der Waals interaction between an atom and a cavity wall are performed in the separation region from 3 nm to 150 nm. The cases of metastable He${}^{\ast}$ and Na atoms near the metal, semiconductor or…
We measure the modification of the transmission spectra of cold $^{87}$Rb atoms in the proximity of an optical nanofiber (ONF). Van der Waals interactions between the atoms an the ONF surface decrease the resonance frequency of atoms closer…
Atom-surface interactions can significantly modify the intensity and phase of atom de Broglie waves diffracted by a silicon nitride grating. This affects the operation of a material grating as a coherent beam splitter. The phase shift…
Matter-wave interferometry has become an essential tool in studies on the foundations of quantum physics and for precision measurements. Mechanical gratings have played an important role as coherent beamsplitters for atoms, molecules and…
An atom interferometer based on a Stern-Gerlach beam splitter is proposed. Atom scattering from a combination of magnetic quadrupole and homogeneous magnetic fields is considered. Using Raman transitions, atoms are coherently excited into…
Matter-wave interferometry with atoms and molecules has attracted a rapidly growing interest over the past two decades, both in demonstrations of fundamental quantum phenomena and in quantum-enhanced precision measurements. Such experiments…
We demonstrate how optical nanofibers can be used to manipulate and probe single-atom fluorescence. We show that fluorescence photons from a very small number of atoms, average atom number of less than 0.1, around the nanofiber can readily…
The interaction of Na atoms with a surface was probed by inserting a nanofabricated material grating into one arm of an atom interferometer (IFM). This technique permits a direct measurement of the change in phase and coherence of matter…
Contemporary experiments in cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) with gas-phase neutral atoms rely increasingly on laser cooling and optical, magneto-optical or magnetostatic trapping methods to provide atomic localization with…
We calculate the van der Waals friction between two semi-infinite solids in normal relative motion and find a drastic difference in comparison with the parallel relative motion. The case of the good conductors is investigated in details…
This paper presents our current measurements in a vapor nanocell aiming at a test of the distance-dependence of the atom-surface interaction, when simple asymptotic descriptions may turn to be not valid. A state-of-the-art of atom-surface…
The study of van der Waals (vdW) materials has seen increased interest in recent years, due to the wide range of uses for these materials because of their unique mechanical, electronic, and optical properties. This area has recently…
We review the current status of the field of atom-surface interactions, with an emphasis on the regimes specific to atom chips. Recent developments in theory and experiment are highlighted. In particular, atom-surface interactions define…
Interferometry with ultracold atoms promises the possibility of ultraprecise and ultrasensitive measurements in many fields of physics, and is the basis of our most precise atomic clocks. Key to a high sensitivity is the possibility to…
The emerging field of on-chip integration of nanophotonic devices and cold atoms offers extremely-strong and pure light-matter interaction schemes, which may have profound impact on quantum information science. In this context, a…
The strength of an atom-surface interaction is determined by studying atom diffraction from a rotated material grating. A phasor diagram is developed to interpret why diffraction orders are never completely suppressed when a complex…
The ability to control the polarization of light at the extreme nanoscale has long been a major scientific and technological goal for photonics. Here we predict the phenomenon of polarization splitting through van der Waals heterostructures…