Stuttgart 2012 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 63: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC IV
Q 63.2: Talk
Friday, March 16, 2012, 11:00–11:15, V57.03
Interactions of Cold Atoms with Graphene and Carbon Nanotubes — Benjamin Jetter1, Johannes Märkle1, Philipp Schneeweiß1, Michael Gierling1, Robin Scott2, Andrew Martin3, Bartek Kaczmarek4, Andreas Günther1, József Fortágh1, Mark Fromhold4, and •Thomas Judd1 — 1University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany — 2University of Trento, Trento, Italy — 3University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia — 4University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
A unique perspective on carbon nanostructures may be gained by combining such devices with cold atom clouds since these constitute the slowest and softest possible probe. Here, we investigate elastic and inelastic scattering of cold atoms on graphene and carbon nanotubes. We show that atomic quantum reflection probabilities from a graphene monolayer can be over 90% and that such experiments can distinguish between theoretical descriptions of graphene. We show that atoms that do not reflect noticeably increase the electrical resistance of graphene, opening the door to a new form of hybrid electronics and real-time monitoring of cold atoms. We also analyse recent data for cold atom scattering on a single carbon nanotube. Quantum reflection is shown to be negligible for thermal clouds, allowing one to extract van der Waals coefficients using classical theories. However, if a BEC is used, the scattering becomes highly non-trivial and effects such as inter-atomic interactions and quantum pressure become important. The van der Waals forces due to the nanotube are shown to be exceptionally small; this suggests a single nanotube can be an effective photon trap.