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arXiv:1905.02783 · Physical Review A

Measurement of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction by transmission spectroscopy in a wedged nanocell

T. Peyrot, Nikola Šibalić, Yvan R. P. Sortais, Antoine Browaeys, Armen D. Sargsyan, David G. Sarkisyan, Ifan G. Hughes, Charles S. Adams

Published Aug 1, 2019• 31 citations
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Abstract

We demonstrate a method for measuring atom-surface interactions using transmission spectroscopy of thermal vapors confined in a wedged nanocell. The wedged shape of the cell allows complementary measurements of both the bulk atomic vapor and atoms close to surfaces experiencing strong van der Waals atom-surface interaction. These are used to tightly constrain the dipole-dipole collisional parameters of a theoretical model for transmission spectra that accounts for atom-surface interactions, cavity effects, collisions with the surface of the cell, and atomic motion. We illustrate this method on a cesium vapor in a sapphire cell, demonstrating that even the weakest of the van der Waals atom-surface interaction coefficients---for ground-state alkali atom transitions---can be determined with a very good precision. This result paves the way towards a precise quantitative characterization of atom-surface interactions in a wide range of atom-based nanodevices.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.100.022503

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Optics and Spectroscopy•May 1, 2020•5 citations
We demonstrate a method for measuring atom-surface interactions using transmission spectroscopy of thermal vapors confined in a wedged nanocell. The wedged shape of the cell allows complementary measurements of both the bulk atomic vapor and atoms close to surfaces experiencing strong van der Waals atom-surface interaction. These are used to tightly constrain the dipole-dipole collisional parameters of a theoretical model for transmission spectra that accounts for atom-surface interactions, cavity effects, collisions with the surface of the cell, and atomic motion. We illustrate this method on a cesium vapor in a sapphire cell, demonstrating that even the weakest of the van der Waals atom-surface interaction coefficients---for ground-state alkali atom transitions---can be determined with a very good precision. This result paves the way towards a precise quantitative characterization of atom-surface interactions in a wide range of atom-based nanodevices.
Since the recent realization of extremely thin vapour cells (local thickness: 20-1000 nm), we investigate the optical properties of these 1-D confined vapours. Aside from their interest for Doppler-free spectroscopy, nanocells offer a new tool to evaluate collisional shift and broadening, yielding an access to the open problem of collisions under confinement. It also allows probing of the atom-surface interaction in a range of unusual short distances. The experimental exploration of the distance dependence, normally evolving according to the z −3 van der Waals (vW) dependence ( z : the atom-surface distance), is worth doing because it could be affected by imperfections of the real surface, such as roughness, adsorbed impurities or charges. A detailed lineshape analysis is now under progress, with tight constraints imposed to the fitting by the twin information brought by simultaneous reflection and transmission spectra. Another issue is a possible resonant enhancement, susceptible to induce a repulsive vW, due to the coupling between atom excitation and a surface mode.
Alkali vapors confined in nano-scale cells are promising tools for future integrated atom-based sensor. In this thesis, we investigate the interaction between light and an ensemble of atoms confined in a nano-geometry. We focus on the different processes that can modify the optical response of the atomic ensemble and possibly affect the sensitivity of a sensor based on that technology. First, we study the non-local response of atoms to a light excitation due the atomic motion in thermal vapors. When the distance over which the atoms relaxes is larger than the size of the cell, the optical response depends on the size of the system. We have observed that for transmission spectroscopy, this leads to a periodic modification of the optical response with a period equal to the wavelength of the optical transition. Subsequently we showed that when the density of atom increases, the atomic response becomes local again. In this dense regime, the resonant dipole-dipole interaction in a sub-wavelength geometry leads to collective frequency shifts of the spectral lines. We demonstrate that these shifts were induced by the cavity formed by the cell walls, hence clarifying a long-standing issue. We developed a model to extract the density shifts deconvolved from the cavity effects. Close to a surface, the optical response is also affected by the van der Waals atom-surface interaction. We introduced a new method to extract precisely the strength of this interaction. We also developed a new generation of super-polished glass nano-cells and we presented promising spectroscopic signals. Finally, using these cells, we have compared transmission and off-axis spectroscopic techniques.
The effect of the dielectric surface on the 39K D1 line (Fg = 1, 2 → Fe = 1, 2 transitions) at nanometer distances has been experimentally studied for the first time. A nanocell that is filled with atomic potassium and has a wedge gap has been used to study the effect of atoms at distances of 50–800 nm from the technical sapphire window surface. At distances L < 100 nm from the sapphire surface, the van der Waals interaction strongly broadens atomic transitions and their frequencies are redshifted. The second derivative method applied to the absorption spectra of the nanocell has allowed the first measurement of the van der Waals interaction coefficient C3 = (1.2 ± 0.3) kHz μm3 for the 39K D1 line. It has been shown that the dipole–dipole interaction between 39K atoms results in the additional redshift at an increase in the density of atoms for the nanocell thickness L < 70 nm. The results obtained are important for the development of submicron devices containing free atoms.
Abstract The influence of interaction of Cs atoms with a dielectric surface on position and shape of the hyperfine components of the D2 line in the case of nanometer-scale distance between the atom and the surface is investigated. Using a wedged nanocell enabled investigating the dependence of shift of all hyperfine components of the D2 line corresponding to Fg = 3 → Fe = 2, 3, 4 and Fg = 4 → Fe = 3, 4, 5 transitions on distance L between the atoms and the surface of a sapphire window in the interval from 50 to 400 nm. At L smaller than 100 nm, atomic transitions experience strong broadening due to van der Waals interaction and shift to lower frequencies (the red shift). Calculation of the second derivative (SD) of the absorption spectra of vapors in a nanocell allows spectrally resolving the hyperfine components of an atomic transition down to L ~ 50 nm and determining the van der Waals interaction coefficient C3. It is demonstrated that the spectrum experiences an additional red shift with increase in the density of atoms at L < 100 nm. In contrast, a blue shift occurs with increase in the density of atoms at relatively large distances between the atoms and the surface (L ~ 400 nm). The above results are important for development of miniature submicron-size devices containing alkali metals.