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Physical Review A

Evanescent-wave guiding of atoms in hollow optical fibers

Michael J. Renn, Elizabeth A. Donley, Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman, Dana Z. Anderson

Published Feb 1, 1996• 148 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We use evanescent laser light to guide atoms through hollow-core optical fibers. The light, detuned to the blue side of rubidium's ${D}_{2}$ resonance lines, is launched into the glass region of a hollow capillary fiber and guided through the fiber by total internal reflection from the glass walls. Atoms interacting with the evanescent component of the field are repelled from the wall and guided through the fiber hollow. A second laser tuned to the red side of resonance is used to initially inject the atoms into the evanescent guide. An optical intensity threshold for guiding is observed as the evanescent-field-induced dipole forces exceed the van der Waals forces.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.53.r648

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We use evanescent laser light to guide atoms through hollow-core optical fibers. The light, detuned to the blue side of rubidium's D2{D}_{2}D2​ resonance lines, is launched into the glass region of a hollow capillary fiber and guided through the fiber by total internal reflection from the glass walls. Atoms interacting with the evanescent component of the field are repelled from the wall and guided through the fiber hollow. A second laser tuned to the red side of resonance is used to initially inject the atoms into the evanescent guide. An optical intensity threshold for guiding is observed as the evanescent-field-induced dipole forces exceed the van der Waals forces.
We have used optical forces to guide atoms through hollow-core optical fibers. Laser light is launched into the hollow region of a glass capillary fiber and guided by grazing-incidence reflection from the walls. When the laser is detuned 1--30 GHz red of the Rb D2 resonance lines, dipole forces attract atoms to the high-intensity region along the axis and guide them through the fiber. We show that atoms may be guided around bends in the fiber and that in initial experiments the atoms experience up to 18 reflections from the potential walls with minimal loss.
Laser-cooled atoms from a low-velocity atomic source are guided in a hollow-core optical fiber using the evanescent-wave dipole force from blue-detuned laser light launched into the glass region of the fiber. The transverse velocity of the guided atoms corresponds to a temperature of $50 \ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}.$ We achieve a maximum flux through a 23.5-cm-long fiber of 590 000 atoms/second with a laser power of 55 mWatts at a detuning of 6 GHz. With larger detunings of 40 GHz, spontaneous emission from the atoms inside the fiber can be suppressed and the atom's internal-state population is preserved. We identify two major loss mechanisms for the guiding process and discuss possible solutions.
Summary form only given. We use optical dipole forces to guide neutral rubidium atoms through hollowcore optical fibers. In one configuration, light copropagates in the circular hollow region as a grazing incidence mode. Atoms are attracted to the high intensity region of a beam detuned to the red of rubidium's D2 resonance lines and are thus kept away from the fiber's walls. In a second configuration, light is guided in the annular glass region and it is the evanescent field of this light that repels the atoms from the fiber walls when the light is tuned to the blue side of atomic resonance.
We present an experimental and theoretical investigation characterizing the flux of laser-guided atoms through hollow-core optical fibers and show how it depends on laser detuning from resonance, laser intensity, and fiber curvature. The guiding employs dipole forces arising from the interaction of the atoms with the optical field. Laser light is focused into the hollow region of 40-\ensuremath{\mu}m-inner-diam capillary fiber and guided through the fiber by grazing incidence reflection from the glass walls. The lowest-order mode is azimuthally symmetric with maximum intensity on the fiber axis and nearly zero intensity at the walls. Rubidium atoms are attracted to the high-intensity region along the axis when the laser is detuned to the red of resonance and consequently guided through the fiber. Of particular interest is the evolution of the atom-flux versus laser-detuning profile of increasing intensity. At low intensities the dipole guiding potential is purely conservative and the flux profile is roughly dispersion shaped. At high intensity, viscous dipole forces heat the atoms and ``burn a hole'' in the flux-detuning curve. We find that transverse heating of the atoms and the exponential attenuation of optical mode intensity limit the distance atoms may be guided to about 20 cm in a 40-\ensuremath{\mu}m-diam fiber. Bending the fiber can reduce the effects of heating on atom flux.
Recent theoretical and experimental demonstrations have shown that blue-detuned laser light, propagating in the annular core-cladding region of a hollow-glass fiber, produces a repulsive, evanescent light-wave potential in the hollow, that can be used to guide near-resonant atoms down the fiber. In this work, I show that slight modifications to the hollow-fiber geometry can be used to turn this atom guide into an atom-bottle trap. The trap can be open and shut by varying the aperture angle at which light couples into the fiber, allowing the atoms to be easily loaded. This trap has an advantage over other optical atom traps in that the atoms move coherently in a field-free region with only brief specular reflections at the step-like potential walls.
Recent theoretical and experimental demonstrations have shown that blue-detuned laser light, propagating in the annular core-cladding region of a hollow-glass fiber, produces a repulsive, evanescent light-wave potential in the hollow that can be used to guide near-resonant atoms down the fiber.1–4 In this work I show that slight modifications to the hollow-fiber geometry can be used to turn this atom guide into an atom-bottle trap.5-6 The trap can be opened and shut by varying the aperture angle at which light couples into the fiber, allowing the atoms to be easily loaded. This trap has an advantage over other optical atom traps in that the atoms move coherently in a field-free region with only brief specular reflections at the step-like potential walls.