Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
Phys Rev Lett. 2010 May 21;104(20):203603. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.203603. Epub 2010 May 20.
Trapping and optically interfacing laser-cooled neutral atoms are essential requirements for their use in advanced quantum technologies. Here we simultaneously realize both of these tasks with cesium atoms interacting with a multicolor evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber. The atoms are localized in a one-dimensional optical lattice about 200 nm above the nanofiber surface and can be efficiently interrogated with a resonant light field sent through the nanofiber. Our technique opens the route towards the direct integration of laser-cooled atomic ensembles within fiber networks, an important prerequisite for large scale quantum communication schemes. Moreover, it is ideally suited to the realization of hybrid quantum systems that combine atoms with, e.g., solid state quantum devices.
捕获和光学界面激光冷却的中性原子是将其应用于先进量子技术的基本要求。在这里，我们使用与光学纳米光纤周围的多色消逝场相互作用的铯原子，同时实现了这两个任务。原子被局域在距纳米光纤表面约 200nm 的一维光学晶格中，可以通过穿过纳米光纤传输的共振光场进行有效探测。我们的技术为将激光冷却原子集合直接集成到光纤网络中开辟了道路，这是大规模量子通信方案的重要前提。此外，它非常适合于实现混合量子系统，例如将原子与固态量子器件相结合。
