Abstract
We study the coupling of spontaneously emitted photons from laser-cooled 85Rb atoms to the guided modes of an optical nanofibre to demonstrate the potential such fibres offer as tools for detecting and manipulating cold atoms, even when the number of atoms is very small. We also demonstrate the integration of an optical nanofibre into an absorption spectroscopy setup, showcasing the ability of the evanescent field around nanofibres to interact with atoms in close proximity to the fibre. In principle, trapping of single atoms in engineered optical potentials on the surface of the fibre should facilitate entanglement between distant atoms mediated via the guided modes of the nanofibre.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Le Kien, F., Balykin, V.I., Hakuta, K.: Atom trap and waveguide using a two-color evanescent light field around a subwavelength-diameter optical fiber. Phys. Rev. A 70, 063403 (2004)
Sagué, G., Baade, A., Rauschenbeutel, A.: Blue-detuned evanescent field surface traps for neutral atoms based on mode interference in ultra-thin optical fibres. New J. Phys. 10, 113008 (2008)
Russell, L., Gleeson, D.A., Minogin, V.G., Nic Chormaic, S.: Spectral distribution of atomic fluorescence coupled into an optical nanofibre. J. Phys. B 42, 185006 (2009)
Nayak, K.P., Melentiev, P.N., Moringa, M., Le Kien, F., Balykin, V.I., Hakuta, K.: Optical nanofiber as an efficient tool for manipulating and probing atomic fluorescence. Optics Express 15, 5431 (2007)
Morrissey, M.J., Deasy, K., Wu, Y., Chakrabarti, S., Nic Chormaic, S.: Tapered optical fibers as tools for probing magneto-optical trap characteristics. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 80, 053102 (2009)
Bures, J., Ghosh, R.: Power density in the vicinity of a tapered fiber. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 16, 1992 (1999)
Tong, L., Lou, J., Mazur, E.: Single-mode guiding properties of subwavelength-diameter silica and silicon wire waveguides. Optics Express 12, 1025–1035 (2004)
Cai, M., Painter, O., Vahala, K.J.: Observation of critical coupling in a fiber taper to a silica-microsphere whispering-gallery mode system. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 74–77 (2000)
Ward, J.M., Féron, P., Nic Chormaic, S.: A taper-fused microspherical laser source. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters 20, 392–394 (2008)
Spillane, S.M., Pati, G.S., Salit, K., Hall, M., Kumar, P., Beausoleil, R.G., Shahriar, M.S.: Observation of nonlinear optical interactions of ultralow levels of light in a tapered optical nanofiber embedded in a hot rubidium vapor. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 233602 (2008)
Tong, L., Gattass, R.R., Ashcom, J.B., He, S., Lou, J., Shen, M., Maxwell, I., Mazur, E.: Subwavelength-diameter silica wires for low-loss optical wave guiding. Nature 426, 816–819 (2003)
Ward, J.M., O’Shea, D.G., Shortt, B.J., Morrissey, M.J., Deasy, K., Nic Chormaic, S.: Heat-and-pull rig for fiber taper fabrication. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 083105 (2006)
Birks, T., Li, Y.: The shape of fiber tapers. J. Light. Tech. 10, 432 (1992)
Love, J.D., Henry, W.M., Stewart, W.J., Black, R.J., Lacroix, S., Gonthier, F.: Tapered single-mode fibres and devices. 1. Adiabaticity criteria. IEEE Proc. 138, 342 (1991)
Metcalf, H.J., van der Straten, P.: Laser Cooling and Trapping. Springer, Heidelberg (1999)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 ICST Institute for Computer Science, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering
About this paper
Cite this paper
Deasy, K., Watkins, A., Morrissey, M., Schmidt, R., Chormaic, S.N. (2010). Few Atom Detection and Manipulation Using Optical Nanofibres. In: Sergienko, A., Pascazio, S., Villoresi, P. (eds) Quantum Communication and Quantum Networking. QuantumComm 2009. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 36. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11731-2_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11731-2_24
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-11730-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-11731-2
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)