Making Waves in a “Glass” Full of Atoms

H. Bender, Ph. W. Courteille, C. Marzok +2 more

We present the first direct measurements of Casimir-Polder forces between solid surfaces and atomic gases in the transition regime between the electrostatic short-distance and the retarded long-distance limit. The experimental method is based on ultracold ground-state Rb atoms that are reflected from evanescent wave barriers at the surface of a dielectric glass prism. Our novel approach does not require assumptions about the potential shape. The experimental data are compared to the theoretical predictions valid in the different regimes. They agree best with a full QED calculation.

Jacquelyn Ho

A. Burchianti, Andrea Bogi, C. Marinelli +2 more

We review some recent studies on light-induced atomic desorption (LIAD) from dielectric surfaces. Alkali-metal atoms adsorbed either on organic films or on porous glass are released into the vapor phase under illumination. The measurements were performed in Pyrex resonance cells either coated with siloxane films or containing a porous glass sample. In both cases, the experimental results show that LIAD can be used to produce atomic densities suitable for most atomic physics experiments. Moreover, we find that photoinduced effects, correlated with LIAD, produce reversible formation and evaporation of alkali-metal clusters in porous glass. These processes depend on the light frequency, making the porous glass transmittance controllable by light.

Faye Flam

Robert Pool

Tri Sulistiono

Considerable progress has recently been made in controling the motion of free atomic particles by means of light pressure exerted by laser radiation. The free fall of atoms and bouncing on a reflecting surface made from evanescent wave formed by internal reflection of a quasiresonant laser beam at a curved glass surface in the presence of homogeneous gravitational field has been observed. In this paper we present the energy quantization of this system by making use the asymptotic expansion method. It is shown that for large $n$ the levels go like $n^{2/3}$ which may be compared with $n^2$ for the infinite square well.