arXiv:physics/0503146

Atom-Wall interaction

Daniel Bloch, M. Ducloy

Published Mar 17, 2005• 0 citations

Abstract

This chapter deals with atom-wall interaction occurring in the "long-range" regime (typical distances: 1-1000 nm), when the electromagnetic fluctuations of an isolated atom are modified by the vicinity with a surface. Various regimes of interaction are discussed in an Introductory part, from Cavity Quantum ElectroDynamics modifications of the spontaneous emission, to Casimir effect, with emphasis on the atom-surface van der Waals interaction, characterized as a near-field interaction governed by a z-3 dependence. The major part of the Chapter focuses on the experimental measurements of this van der Waals interaction, reviewing various recent techniques, and insists upon optical techniques, and notably selective reflection spectroscopy which is particularly well-suited when excited atoms are considered. A review of various experiments illustrates the specific effects associated with a resonant coupling between the atomic excitation and surface modes, from van der Waals repulsion to surface-induced resonant transfer, and with anisotropy effects, including metastability transfer induced by a quadrupole contribution in the interaction. The effects of a thermal excitation of the surface -with a possible remote energy transfer to an atom-, and of interaction with nanobodies -which are intrinsically non planar- are notably discussed among the prospects.

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.physics/0503146

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arXiv:physics/0503146

Atom-Wall interaction

Daniel Bloch, M. Ducloy

Published Mar 17, 2005• 0 citations

arXiv HTML PDF

Abstract

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.physics/0503146

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Journal de Physique IIApr 1, 199291 citations

The distance dependence of the anisotropic atom-wall interaction is studied. The central result is the

1/{z}^{6}

quadrupolar anisotropy decay in the retarded Casimir-Polder regime. Analysis of the transition region between nonretarded van der Waals regime (in

1/{z}^{3}

) and Casimir-Polder regime shows that the anisotropy crossover occurs at very short distances from the surface, on the order of $0.03\ensuremath{\lambda}$, where $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ is the atom characteristic wavelength. Possible experimental verifications of this distance dependence using surface-induced inelastic transitions are discussed.

The 1%-accurate calculations of the van der Waals interaction between an atom and a cavity wall are performed in the separation region from

3\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}150\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}

. The cases of metastable

{\mathrm{He}}^{*}

and Na atoms near metal, semiconductor, and dielectric walls are considered. Different approximations to the description of wall material and atomic dynamic polarizability are carefully compared. The smooth transition to the Casimir-Polder interaction is verified. It is shown that to obtain accurate results for the atom-wall van der Waals interaction at short separations with an error less than 1% one should use the complete optical-tabulated data for the complex refractive index of the wall material and the accurate dynamic polarizability of an atom. The obtained results may be useful for the theoretical interpretation of recent experiments on quantum reflection and Bose-Einstein condensation of ultracold atoms on or near surfaces of different kinds.

z^{-3}

potential dependence (

z

: distance to the wall). We present detailed results of two series of experiments at a Cs vapor/dielectric window interface on the 6S

_{1/2}

-6P

_{3/2}

(

\lambda = 852

nm) resonance line and on the 6S

_{1/2}

-7P second resonance line (

\lambda = 455

nm and 459 nm). Lineshape analysis at various pressures consistently shows that a van der Waals-type surface attraction has to be considered to interpret strong lineshape distortions and resonance shift. The attractive strengths are found to be equal respectively to

\approx 2

kHz

\mu

^3

and

\approx 20

kHz

\mu

^3

, independently of the considered hyperfine component, within the experimental accuracy. It yields also typical parameters of pressure broadening and shift, which are shown to originate in collisional processes, at densities where the medium is opaque. Theoretical expectations for the VW strength are discussed on the basis of the results of atomic theory. The predicted values are smaller, by a typical factor of 2, than those deduced from the experiments. The validity of the theory, when applied to a dielectric interface, is discussed and seems questionable when the frequency of virtual atomic transitions involved in the van der Waals attraction potential lies in the dielectric window absorption range.