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arXiv:2006.12167 · Applied Physics B

Measurement and simulation of atomic motion in nanoscale optical trapping potentials

Signe Brynold Markussen, J. Appel, Christoffer Østfeldt, J.-B. Béguin, Eugene Simon Polzik, Jörg Helge Müller

Published Apr 1, 2020• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF
DOI
10.1007/s00340-020-07424-5

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We propose a novel scheme to generate nanoscale optical trap for cold atoms near the tapered Ag nanotip, in which we take a microdisk cavity near the nanoscale trap and form a nanoscale solid-state system to realize the loading of the isolated cold atoms. We calculate the field distribution by the FDTD method near the nanotip, and discuss the intensity, the optical potential and van der Waals potential as well as the dipole force for 87Rb atoms. We find that the total potential and dipole force can form an attracting nanoscale trap for cold atoms with red-detuned field and it can realize the effective trapping and manipulation of the isolated atoms, which can enable efficient fluorescence photon collection and strong coupling in the coupled optical fiber.
Abstract We present a scheme to directly probe the Wigner function of the motional state of a neutral atom confined in an optical trap. The proposed scheme relies on the well-established fact that the Wigner function at a given point (x, p) in phase space is proportional to the expectation value of the parity operator relative to that point. In this work, we show that the expectation value of the parity operator can be directly measured using two auxiliary internal states of the atom: parity-even and parity-odd motional states are mapped to the two internal states of the atom through a Ramsey interferometry scheme. The Wigner function can thus be measured point-by-point in phase space with a single, direct measurement of the internal state population. Numerical simulations show that the scheme is robust in that it applies not only to deep, harmonic potentials but also to shallower, anharmonic traps.
Precise alignment of an optical potential with a micrometer-scale magnetic trap near an atom chip is technically challenging compared with free-space systems. We investigate a double-well potential created by a focused, blue-detuned laser beam superimposed on an atom-chip magnetic trap for manipulating cold ⁸⁷Rb atoms. The measured separation of atomic clouds in the double well serves as a sensitive indicator of the laser focus: the separation reaches a minimum when the beam is aligned with the center of the magnetic trap. We develop a theoretical model for the combined magnetic and optical potentials and the resulting atomic motion, and validate its predictions using Monte Carlo simulations over a broad range of trap frequencies, barrier heights, and temperatures. Both the model and simulations show that optimal alignment corresponds to the minimum observable separation between the two atomic clouds. Parameter scans further reveal that stronger axial confinement and lower temperatures enhance the detectability of this minimum, providing a practical optical-alignment method for atom-chip systems in which direct beam characterization near the surface is difficult.