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Journal of Physics Conference Series

New light on cavity QED with ultracold atoms

Carsten Henke, Brian Power, Fernando Sols

Published Jan 1, 2005• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We give an overview on quantum electrodynamics (QED) with atoms located near a planar surface. Starting from basic concepts like electric and magnetic dipole transitions and electromagnetic near fields, we explain some properties of magnetic fields that are relevant for ultracold atoms in hybrid electromagnetic-surface traps. In particular, we discuss next order corrections to the atom-surface interaction potential due to the magnetic moment.

DOI
10.1088/1742-6596/19/1/005

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We give an overview on quantum electrodynamics (QED) with atoms located near a planar surface. Starting from basic concepts like electric and magnetic dipole transitions and electromagnetic near fields, we explain some properties of magnetic fields that are relevant for ultracold atoms in hybrid electromagnetic-surface traps. In particular, we discuss next order corrections to the atom-surface interaction potential due to the magnetic moment.
Over the past ten years, our group has investigated the effects of confinement on atoms inside metallic micron–sized cavities in order to elucidate some basic phenomena in the field of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED). The first of these was the inhibition of spontaneous emission from an atom inside a cavity. This was followed by a laser spectroscopic measurement of the van der Waals interaction between a single Rydberg atom and a gold cavity, which showed that a simple electrostatic model of the atom–cavity interaction is correct when the cavity is small enough. More recently, the retarded Casimir–Polder force was measured between a ground state sodium atom and a large cavity, demonstrating that the van der Waals potential fails at long enough range and that the vacuum fluctuations of the field then have an important role in the interaction of the atom with the cavity. Our group is now pushing forward these investigations to study cavities whose walls have losses and dispersion, where the theory of cavity QED is significantly more complicated. With real surfaces, we have to deal with the complex dielectric response ε(ω) of the material, which exhibits frequency–dependent absorption and dispersion. One particularly interesting case is when a downward transition in the atom is resonant with an excitation of the cavity walls. This opens a new branch for the atomic decay: as an alternative to creating a photon within the space surrounded by the cavity walls the atomic decay can now create an electromagnetic excitation of the walls themselves. Another novel feature of our experiments is that the Bohr frequencies of the atom are close to the kT/h, where T is room temperature. We therefore expect to be able to measure effects associated with QED at finite temperature; in other words, to study how the blackbody radiation affects our experiments. By conducting experiments with real surfaces, we hope to elucidate and perhaps simplify the theoretical models used to describe these systems.
Quantum reflection refers to the reflection of particles by attractive long-range potentials in nonclassical regions of coordinate space without reaching a classical turning point. Recent advances in nanotechnology and in cooling processes of atoms and molecules give rise to the creation of hybrid systems involving ultracold atoms and nanostructures, where quantum reflection might play an important role. In this work we review some fundamental aspects of quantum reflection. These include the description of atom-surface interactions -which are originated from the vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field-, the near-threshold characterization of quantum reflection, possible applications for trapping and guiding ultracold atoms, and the description of scattering processes in a basic hybrid system: ultracold atoms interacting with nanotubes.
Contemporary experiments in cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) with gas-phase neutral atoms rely increasingly on laser cooling and optical, magneto-optical or magnetostatic trapping methods to provide atomic localization with sub-micron uncertainty. Difficult to achieve in free space, this goal is further frustrated by atom-surface interactions if the desired atomic placement approaches within several hundred nanometers of a solid surface, as can be the case in setups incorporating monolithic dielectric optical resonators such as microspheres, microtoroids, microdisks or photonic crystal defect cavities. Typically in such scenarios, the smallest atom-surface separation at which the van der Waals interaction can be neglected is taken to be the optimal localization point for associated trapping schemes, but this sort of conservative strategy generally compromises the achievable cavity QED coupling strength. Here we suggest a new approach to the design of optical dipole traps for atom confinement near surfaces that exploits strong surface interactions, rather than avoiding them, and present the results of a numerical study based on (39)K atoms and indium tin oxide (ITO). Our theoretical framework points to the possibility of utilizing nanopatterning methods to engineer novel modifications of atom-surface interactions.
A tutorial overview is given on interactions between atoms and surfaces that are mediated by the electromagnetic field. The emphasis is on dispersion (or van der Waals) forces and transitions induced by thermal fluctuations in the near field of a surface. Applications with cold atoms held in microscopic traps near surfaces ("atom chips") provide the experimental background for this theory lecture. We do not cover the chemical physics aspects that are relevant at distances comparable to the atomic scale, like adsorption and diffusion on surfaces, growth of nanostructures, or atomic beam diffraction from crystalline surfaces. These are covered by other lecturers.
Cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity QED) describes the interactions of single atoms and single photons in a resonator. In the laboratory, state-of-the-art experiments are able to observe the dynamics of these simple yet fundamental quantum systems. The recent development of quantum information science has also introduced a new role for cavity QED systems as quantum interfaces, in which information can be coherently mapped between photonic and atomic quantum bits. Groundbreaking optical cavity QED experiments in the past twenty years would not have been possible without the technological development of mirror coatings with extremely low scatter and absorption losses. Thermal noise has typically played a smaller role in cavity QED experiments but in certain instances is nevertheless important to consider. In this chapter, we begin with an overview of optical cavity QED experiments and some of the central questions that they address. It is hoped that this description, while by no means exhaustive, will provide a window for the nonspecialist into basic techniques and motivations in the field. We then turn to focus on the roles played by scattering and absorption loss and mechanical loss. We discuss how these losses have set limits on feasible experiments and the extent to which improvements may be possible. Experimental realizations of cavity QED systems An idealized cavity QED system consists of one atom placed between two highly reflective mirrors (Figure 17.1). In this model, a single atomic transition interacts with photons in a single cavity mode; the atom is often pictured at an antinode of the cavity standing wave, where it has a maximal dipole interaction with the cavity field.