Atomic spectroscopy and nano-optics

Mario Agio

Zameer U. Hasan, A. Adamczyk, Aras Konjhodzic +2 more

Pulsed Laser Chemical Vapor Deposition (PLCVD) has been used to fabricate single atoms doped nanoparticles of magnesium sulfide. These particles were dispersed in optically transparent Poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) films for near field nano-microscopy such that each nanoparticle doped with a single europium atom falls in the focusing range of the near field microscope. By atomic tailoring, the concentration of the doubly ionized europium, Eu2+, has been maximized in these nanoparticles. The energy and the oscillator strength of the 4f7-4f65d1 electronic transition has been tailored to maximize its addressing by photons in single atom spectroscopy experiments. Results have been presented on the fabrication of these single atom doped nanoparticles and their spectroscopy by laser excited fluorescence technique. Studies of a single Eu2+ ion by confocal micro-spectroscopy are in progress.

William Hamlyn

We present the design, fabrication, and operation of a new genera-tion of thermal alkali vapour nano-cells. The nano-cells include in-ternal structures with length scales 200−2000 nm created by laserlithography and reactive ion etching. The assembly process adoptsoptical contact bonding and glassblowing, avoiding the requirementfor any bonding agents or adhesives. We demonstrate a novel methodfor characterising the size of the internal vapour nano-channels. Thedesign allows for greater optical access and compatibility with highnumerical aperture (NA=0.7) optics; we demonstrate this with totalinternal reflection fluorescence spectroscopy and high resolution ima-ging of the nano-channels. Additionally, we report for the first time onthe photon statistics of light from a thin atomic ensemble. Finally, wediscuss the diffusion of atoms inside confined geometries with a num-ber of detection methods, and investigate options for controlling andmanipulating the atomic density and its diffusion. In total, we presentour new nano-cell design as a significant advancement of the field andpropose its use in scalable atomic and quantum optics applications andtechnologies.

V. I. Balykin

Viktor I Balykin

Aras Konjhodzic, Muhammed Aly, Deepka Chhabria +3 more

Results have been presented on isolating rare earth atoms in small numbers in semiconductor nanoparticles so as to use their organized arrays as hardware for quantum computing. We have tailored atomic states of rare earths, fabricated nanoparticles where these atomic systems are incorporated in small numbers and have patterned arrays of nano-holes on semi-conducting and polymer surfaces to encapsulate these rare earth doped nanoparticles. Results are presented on fabrication, microscopy and spectroscopy of these structures.