Spectral distribution of atomic fluorescence coupled into an optical nanofibre
L Russell, Daniel Gleeson, Vladimir G. Minogin +1 more
We analyse the lineshape of the fluorescence emitted by a cloud of optically excited cold atoms and coupled into an optical nanofibre. We examine the efficiency of the fluorescence coupling and describe the asymmetry of the lineshape caused by the redshifts arising from both the van der Waals and Casimir–Polder interaction of the atoms with the surface of the optical nanofibre. We compare the contributions of the van der Waals and Casimir–Polder redshifts and show that the lineshape of the fluorescence coupled into an optical nanofibre is, basically, influenced by the van der Waals redshift and is characterized by a long tail on the red side of the spectrum. We conclude that a measurement of the lineshape of the coupled fluorescence could be used to characterize the strength of the interaction of atoms with dielectric surfaces and for the detection of atoms using nanofibres.
Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics•Sep 8, 2009•30 citations