Tuning Casimir-Polder interactions in atom-metamaterial hybrid devices

摘要

We report on the coupling of a surface plasmonic mode with a thermal vapor ofcesium atoms. The plasmonic resonance is created using a nano-structuredmetallic surface. By changing the geometrical properties of the metamaterial,we tune the plasmonic resonance wavelength with respect to the D2 line ofcesium. When the two resonances are close, we observe a strong modification ofthe Casimir-Polder interaction accompanied by a change of the atomic lifetime.A proper tuning leads to an almost suppression of the frequency shift of thecesium transition. This result paves the way for precision atomic spectroscopyin the vicinity of a material surface.