Sagué G, Vetsch E, Alt W, Meschede D, Rauschenbeutel A
Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Bonn, Wegelerstr. 8, 53115 Bonn, Germany.
Phys Rev Lett. 2007 Oct 19;99(16):163602. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.163602. Epub 2007 Oct 16.
The strong evanescent field around ultrathin unclad optical fibers bears a high potential for detecting, trapping, and manipulating cold atoms. Introducing such a fiber into a cold-atom cloud, we investigate the interaction of a small number of cold cesium atoms with the guided fiber mode and with the fiber surface. Using high resolution spectroscopy, we observe and analyze light-induced dipole forces, van der Waals interaction, and a significant enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate of the atoms. The latter can be assigned to the modification of the vacuum modes by the fiber.
