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Optics Letters

Atom galleries for whispering atoms: binding atoms in stable orbits around an optical resonator

Hideo Mabuchi, Harry J. Kimble

Published May 15, 1994• 127 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The external fields of optical whispering gallery modes may be used to confine atoms in stable orbits around a dielectric microsphere. As an example, a toroidal dipole-force trap (atom gallery) for three-level atoms is investigated, and the possibility of achieving an atomic (matter-wave) resonator is discussed. The extremely small electromagnetic mode volumes and high Q's of the whispering gallery modes should permit a circulating photon to be repeatedly absorbed and reemitted by a trapped whispering atom.

DOI
10.1364/ol.19.000749

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The external fields of optical whispering gallery modes may be used to confine atoms in stable orbits around a dielectric microsphere. As an example, a toroidal dipole-force trap (atom gallery) for three-level atoms is investigated, and the possibility of achieving an atomic (matter-wave) resonator is discussed. The extremely small electromagnetic mode volumes and high Q's of the whispering gallery modes should permit a circulating photon to be repeatedly absorbed and reemitted by a trapped whispering atom.
Summary form only given, as follows: The high Q whispering gallery modes of silica microspheres are promising for quantum optics and nonlinear optics experiments involving atoms and photons stored in very small volumes. We have developed the technology of these resonators, learning how to couple light in and out through optical fibers, how to obtain and measure record Q factors, and how to probe, by near-field optical microscopy, the electric field distribution immediately outside the sphere. Whispering gallery mode lasers have also been obtained with microspheres made of silica doped with neodymium ions. We describe these experiments and discuss projects involving the coupling of whispering gallery modes to single atoms or ions to perform cavity QED experiments in the optical domain.
The bound state structure and dynamics for an atom trap formed from the whispering gallery modes (WGMs) of a dielectric microsphere are investigated. The coupling of the quantized internal and external atomic degrees of freedom plays a fundamental role in the quantum dynamics of this atom gallery. The radiative processes for a cold atom near a microsphere are modified due to the special symmetry of the atom gallery, the WGM mode structure, and the finite extent of the center-of-mass (c.m.) wave packet. Finally, interesting implications of the quantized c.m. for atomic matter waves and cavity QED with a quantum field are mentioned.
Whispering gallery modes of a microdisk resonator are useful for the optical detection of single rubidium and cesium atoms near the surface of a substrate. Light is coupled into two high-Q whispering-gallery modes of the disk which can provide attractive and/or repulsive potentials, respectively, via their evanescent fields. The sum potential, including van der Waals/Casimir-Polder surface forces, may be tuned to exhibit a minimum at distances on the order of 100 nm from the disk surface. Simultaneously optically trapping and detecting is possible, with the back-action of an atom held in this trap on the light fields being suffciently strong to provide a measurable effect. Atom trapping and detection depend on a variety of system parameters and experimental realizations differ for different atoms.
We theoretically show that achieving high Q-factors of small whispering gallery mode resonators, together with significant non-harmonism (non-equidistance) of its modes, allows for extensive analogy between properties of atoms and the resonator modes. The non-harmonism in very high-Q microresonators is caused by the material as well as geometrical dispersion. The established analogy leads to creating of a photonic media with properties similar to those of atomic media. For instance, effective two-level systems can be formed within the resonator. The levels of the systems, i.e. the resonator modes, can be coupled with microwave or optical fields. Strong confinement of the light in the resonator along with high Q-factors results in nonlinear processes at low light levels even with small nonlinearities typical of optically transparent materials.
We investigate the possibility of using dielectric microdisk resonators for the optical detection of single atoms trapped and cooled in magnetic microtraps near the surface of a substrate. The bound and evanescent fields of optical whispering-gallery modes are calculated and the coupling to straight waveguides is investigated using finite-difference time domain solutions of Maxwell's equations. Results are compared with semianalytical solutions based on coupled mode theory. We discuss atom detection efficiencies and the feasibility of nondestructive measurements in such a system depending on key parameters such as disk size, disk-waveguide coupling, and scattering losses.