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arXiv:1505.07004 · Physical Review A

Spectroscopic detection of atom-surface interactions in an atomic-vapor layer with nanoscale thickness

K. A. Whittaker, James Keaveney, Ifan G. Hughes, Armen D. Sargsyan, David G. Sarkisyan, Charles S. Adams

Published Nov 9, 2015• 21 citations
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Abstract

We measure the resonance line shape of atomic-vapor layers with nanoscale thickness confined between two sapphire windows. The measurement is performed by scanning a probe laser through resonance and collecting the scattered light. The line shape is dominated by the effects of Dicke narrowing, self-broadening, and atom-surface interactions. By fitting the measured line shape to a simple model we discuss the possibility to extract information about the atom-surface interaction.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.92.052706

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We measure the resonance line shape of atomic-vapor layers with nanoscale thickness confined between two sapphire windows. The measurement is performed by scanning a probe laser through resonance and collecting the scattered light. The line shape is dominated by the effects of Dicke narrowing, self-broadening, and atom-surface interactions. By fitting the measured line shape to a simple model we discuss the possibility to extract information about the atom-surface interaction.
We present experimental observations of atom-light interactions within tens of nanometers (down to 11 nm) of a sapphire surface. Using photon counting we detect the fluorescence from of order one thousand Rb or Cs atoms, confined in a vapor with thickness much less than the optical excitation wavelength. The asymmetry in the spectral line shape provides a direct readout of the atom-surface potential. A numerical fit indicates a power law -C(α)/r(α) with α = 3.02 ± 0.06 confirming that the van der Waals interaction dominates over other effects. The extreme sensitivity of our photon-counting technique may allow the search for atom-surface bound states.
We theoretically examine thickness and wavelength dependence line-shape of four-wave-mixing (FWM) spectroscopy in micrometric thin atomic vapors whose thickness LLL is assumed to be 10,30,50,80 and 100 μ\muμm respectively. It is found that a narrow centre (Dicke-narrowing) persists for all cases, while wings are broadened as the thickness of the vapor increases or the pump wavelength decreases comparing to the probe wavelength. This type of spectrum is due to the modified velocity distribution and polarization interference from different ensemble of atoms in a confined situation.
We measure the near-resonant transmission of light through a dense medium of potassium vapor confined in a cell with nanometer thickness in order to investigate the origin and validity of the collective Lamb shift. A complete model including the multiple reflections in the nanocell reproduces accurately the observed line shape. It allows the extraction of a density-dependent shift and width of the bulk atomic medium resonance, deconvolved from the cavity effect. We observe an additional, unexpected dependence of the shift with the thickness of the medium. This extra dependence demands further experimental and theoretical investigations.
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Understanding the processes underlying the optical excitation of atomic vapor in the vicinity of solid surfaces is of interest both from physical and technical points of view. Selective reflection spectra of laser light from an interface of a transparent dielectric material and resonant vapor are known to be Doppler-free and to provide important spectroscopic information about the atom-wall interaction. On the other hand, atomic vapors have such a large and fast nonlinear response on or near resonances that they are capable of processing signals and images with milliwatt lasers at a time scale of submicroseconds. In the present paper we investigate linear and nonlinear optical properties of a thin film of atomic vapor confined between two solid surfaces. Assuming two-level atoms, we solve the Maxwell- Bloch equations for light reflection from resonant atoms. The interaction between the resonant atoms and the wall is accounted for through the boundary conditions for all elements of density matrix. The transient polarization is shown to make an important contribution not only to the field structure in the vicinity of the wall but also to the interference pattern of the reflected field. It is found that the spectrum of reflection depends remarkably on the film thickness. Strong enhancement of signal is also found from this study and possible devices for the detection are discussed.
The features of Doppler-free resonances detected by probing the 133 Cs atom 6S 1/2 → 7P 3/2 transition at 456 nm in a nanometric-thick vapor layer are investigated. The matrix element of this transition is about 11 times smaller than that of the Cs D 2 line (852 nm). When the vapor layer thickness is ℓ = λ /2 ≃ 230 nm, we observe Dicke narrowing of the lines, accompanied by a red frequency shift of the atomic transitions, which is attributed to atom–surface interactions. Realizing optical pumping with ℓ ≃ 460 nm in a single-pass configuration, we observe Doppler-free resonances with a linewidth of <20 MHz, located at the atomic transition frequencies, with a correspondence of the amplitudes to the transition intensities. These narrow resonances are of interest for high-resolution spectroscopy and instrumentation and could serve as a frequency reference.