Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 32: SYPC 1: From Atoms to Photonic Circuits 1

A 32.2: Invited Talk

Thursday, March 15, 2012, 11:00–11:30, V47.01

Trapping and Interfacing Cold Neutral Atoms Using Optical Nanofibers — •Arno Rauschenbeutel — Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology, TU Wien–Atominstitut, Stadionallee 2, 1020 Wien, Austria

We have recently demonstrated a new experimental platform for trapping and optically interfacing laser-cooled cesium atoms [1]. The scheme uses a two-color evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber to localize the atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice 200 nm above the nanofiber surface. At the same time, the atoms are efficiently interrogated with light which is sent through the nanofiber. Remarkably, an ensemble of 2000 trapped atoms yields an optical depth of up to 30, equivalent to 1.5 % absorbance per atom. Moreover, when dispersively interfacing the atoms, we observe ∼ 1 mrad phase shift per atom at a detuning of six times the natural linewidth [2].

Our technique provides unprecedented ease of access for the coherent optical manipulation of trapped neutral atoms and opens the route towards the direct integration of atomic ensembles into fiber networks, an important prerequisite for large scale quantum communication. Moreover, our nanofiber trap is ideally suited to the realization of hybrid quantum systems combining atoms with solid state quantum devices.

Financial support by the ESF (EURYI Award), the FWF (Vienna Doctoral Program CoQuS), and the Volkswagen Foundation (Lichtenberg Professorship) is gratefully acknowledged.

[1] E. Vetsch et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 203603 (2010).

[2] S. T. Dawkins et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 243601 (2011).