Optical nanofibres are ultrathin optical fibres with a waist diameter typically less than the wavelength of light being guided through them. Cold atoms can couple to the evanescent field of the nanofibre-guided modes and such systems are emerging as promising technologies for the development of atom-photon hybrid quantum devices. Atoms within the evanescent field region of an optical nanofibre can be probed by sending near or on-resonant light through the fibre; however, the probe light can detrimentally affect the properties of the atoms. In this paper, we report on the modification of the local temperature of laser-cooled 87 Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap centred around an optical nanofibre when near-resonant probe light propagates through it. A transient absorption technique has been used to measure the temperature of the affected atoms and temperature variations from 160 μ k to 850 μ k, for a probe power ranging from 0 to 50 nW, have been observed. This effect could have implications in relation to using optical nanofibres for probing and manipulating cold or ultracold atoms.
Optical nanofibres are ultrathin optical fibres with a waist diameter typically less than the wavelength of light being guided through them. Cold atoms can couple to the evanescent field of the nanofibre-guided modes and such systems are emerging as promising technologies for the development of atom-photon hybrid quantum devices. Atoms within the evanescent field region of an optical nanofibre can be probed by sending near or on-resonant light through the fibre; however, the probe light can detrimentally affect the properties of the atoms. In this paper, we report on the modification of the local temperature of laser-cooled 87 Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap centred around an optical nanofibre when near-resonant probe light propagates through it. A transient absorption technique has been used to measure the temperature of the affected atoms and temperature variations from 160 μ k to 850 μ k, for a probe power ranging from 0 to 50 nW, have been observed. This effect could have implications in relation to using optical nanofibres for probing and manipulating cold or ultracold atoms.
Optical nanofibres are used to confine light to sub-wavelength regions and are very promising tools for the development of optical fibre-based quantum networks using cold, neutral atoms. To date, experimental studies on atoms near nanofibres have focussed on fundamental fibre mode interactions. In this work, we demonstrate the integration of a few-mode optical nanofibre into a magneto-optical trap for 87 Rb atoms. The nanofibre, with a waist diameter of ∼700 nm, supports both the fundamental and first group of higher order modes (HOMs) and is used for atomic fluorescence and absorption studies. In general, light propagating in higher order fibre modes has a greater evanescent field extension around the waist in comparison with the fundamental mode. By exploiting this behaviour, we demonstrate that the detected signal of fluorescent photons emitted from a cloud of cold atoms centred at the nanofibre waist is larger if HOMs are also included. In particular, the signal from HOMs appears to be about six times larger than that obtained for the fundamental mode. Absorption of on-resonance, HOM probe light by the laser-cooled atoms is also observed. These advances should facilitate the realization of atom trapping schemes based on HOM interference.
In this thesis, a magneto-optical trap setup is used to laser cool and confine a cloud of 85Rb. The cloud typically contains 108 atoms in a 1 mm3 volume at a temperature in the region of the Doppler Limit (146 _K for 85Rb). To study the cold cloud, a subwavelength optical fibre - a nanofibre, or ONF - is positioned inside the cloud. The ONF can be used in two ways. Firstly, it is an efficient fluorescence collection tool for the cold atoms. Loading times, lifetimes and temperatures can be measured by coupling the atomic fluorescence to the evanescent region of the ONF. Secondly, the ONF is used as a probe beam delivery tool using the evanescent field properties of the device, allowing one to perform spectroscopy on few numbers of near-surface atoms. With improvements in optical density of the cloud, this system is an ideal candidate in which to generate electromagnetically induced transparency and slow light. A theoretical study of the van der Waals and Casimir-Polder interactions between an atom and a dielectric surface is also presented in this work in order to understand their effects in the spectroscopy of near-surface atoms.
Optical nanofibres (ONFs) are very thin optical waveguides with sub-wavelength diameters. ONFs have very high evanescent fields and the guided light is confined strongly in the transverse direction. These fibres can be used to achieve strong light-matter interactions. Atoms around the waist of an ONF can be probed by collecting the atomic fluorescence coupling or by measuring the transmission (or the polarisation) of the probe beam sent through it. This thesis presents experiments using ONFs for probing and manipulating laser-cooled 87Rb atoms. As an initial experiment, a single mode ONF was integrated into a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and used for measuring the characteristics of the MOT, such as the loading time and the average temperature of the atom cloud. The effect of a near-resonant probe beam on the local temperature of the cold atoms has been studied. Next, the ONF was used for manipulating the atoms in the evanescent fields region in order to generate nonlinear optical effects. Four-wave mixing, ac Stark effect (Autler-Townes splitting) and electromagnetically induced transparency have been observed at unprecedented ultralow power levels. In another experiment, a few-mode ONF, supporting only the fundamental mode and the first higher order mode group, has been used for studying cold atoms. A higher pumping rate of the atomic fluorescence into the higher order fibreguided modes and more interactions with the surrounding atoms for higher order mode evanescent light, when compared to signals for the fundamental mode, have been identified. The results obtained in the thesis are particularly for a fundamental understanding of light-atom interactions when atoms are near a dielectric surface and also for the development of fibre-based quantum information technologies. Atoms coupled to ONFs could be used for preparing intrinsically fibre-coupled quantum nodes for quantum computing and the studies presented here are significant for a detailed understanding of such a system.
We present a method for measuring the average temperature of a cloud of cold 85 Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap using an optical nanofibre. A periodic spatial variation is applied to the magnetic fields generated by the trapping coils and this causes the trap centre to oscillate, which, in turn, causes the cloud of cold atoms to oscillate. The optical nanofibre is used to collect the fluorescence emitted by the cold atoms, and the frequency response between the motion of the centre of the oscillating trap and the cloud of atoms is determined. This allows us to make measurements of cloud temperature both above and below the Doppler limit, thereby paving the way for nanofibres to be integrated with ultracold atoms for hybrid quantum devices.
Optical nanofibres are increasingly being used in cold atom experiments due to their versatility and the clear advantages they have when developing all-fibred systems for quantum technologies. They provide researchers with a method of overcoming the Rayleigh range for achieving high intensities in a focussed beam over a relatively long distance, and can act as a noninvasive tool for probing cold atoms. In this review article, we will briefly introduce the theory of mode propagation in an ultrathin optical fibre and highlight some of the more significant theoretical and experimental progresses to date, including the early work on atom probing, manipulation and trapping, the study of atom-dielectric surface interactions, and the more recent observation of nanofibre-mediated nonlinear optics phenomena in atomic media. The functionality of optical nanofibres in relation to the realisation of atom–photon hybrid quantum systems is also becoming more evident as some of the earlier technical challenges are surpassed and, recently, several schemes to implement optical memories have been proposed. We also discuss some possible directions where this research field may head, in particular, in relation to the use of optical nanofibres that can support higher-order modes with an associated orbital angular momentum.
We have performed release-recapture temperature measurements of laser-cooled 85Rb atoms using an optical nanofibre (ONF) in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The effects of changing the cooling laser light-shift parameter on the temperature of the cold atoms and spring constant of the trap are studied. By varying the cold atom number density near the ONF, the onset of the multiple scattering regime is observed without the need for an estimation of the atom cloud size. Moreover, this sensitive ONF assisted release-recapture technique is easily able to detect any optical misalignment of the cooling laser beams in the MOT. Keywords: laser cooling, optical nanofiber, rubidium, release-recapture, temperature