Cold Atom Physics Using Ultra-Thin Optical Fibers: Light-Induced Dipole Forces and Surface Interactions

摘要

The strong evanescent field around ultra-thin unclad optical fibers bears ahigh potential for detecting, trapping, and manipulating cold atoms.Introducing such a fiber into a cold atom cloud, we investigate the interactionof a small number of cold Caesium atoms with the guided fiber mode and with thefiber surface. Using high resolution spectroscopy, we observe and analyzelight-induced dipole forces, van der Waals interaction, and a significantenhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of the atoms. The latter can beassigned to the modification of the vacuum modes by the fiber.