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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

Atom-surface van der Waals interaction in the nanometric range

Athanasios Laliotis, Isabelle Maurin, P. Todorov, I. Hamdi, G. Dutier, Solomon M. Saltiel, M.–P. Gorza, M. Fichet, Daniel Bloch, M. Ducloy

Published Jun 1, 2007• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

The atom-surface interaction is one of the simplest prototype of the universal dipole-dipole interaction between neutral bodies and a key phenomenon in the ultimate cohesion of the matter. Here, we report on a spectroscopic investigation of the vW interaction exerted onto the excited atoms of a vapour nanocell, whose nanometric thickness varies locally.

DOI
10.1109/cleoe-iqec.2007.4386805

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The atom-surface interaction is one of the simplest prototype of the universal dipole-dipole interaction between neutral bodies and a key phenomenon in the ultimate cohesion of the matter. Here, we report on a spectroscopic investigation of the vW interaction exerted onto the excited atoms of a vapour nanocell, whose nanometric thickness varies locally.
The van der Waals atom-surface attraction, scaling as C 3 z −3 for z the atom-surface distance, is expected to be valid in the distance range 1–1000 nm, covering 8–10 orders of magnitudes in the interaction energy. A Cs vapour nanocell allows us to analyze the spectroscopic modifications induced by the atom-surface attraction on the 6 P 3/2 → 6 D 5/2 transition. The measured C 3 value is found to be independent of the thickness in the explored range 40–130 nm, and is in agreement with an elementary theoretical prediction. We also discuss the specific interest of exploring short distances and large interaction energy.
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.
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.
The high sensitivity of Laser Spectroscopy has made possible the exploration of atomic resonances in newly designed "nanometric" gas cells, whose local thickness varies from 20nm to more than 1000 nm. Following the initial observation of the optical analogous of the coherent Dicke microwave narrowing, the newest prospects include the exploration of long-range atom surface van der Waals interaction with spatial resolution in an unprecedented range of distances, modification of atom dielectric resonant coupling under the influence of the coupling between the two neighbouring dielectric media, and even the possible modification of interatomic collisions processes under the effect of confinement.