0000000001082687
AUTHOR
D. Reitz
Experiments with a fiber-based optical dipole trap for cold Cs-Atoms
Pulling a standard optical fiber to a diameter of less than the wavelength of the guided light causes the light field to project slightly over the fiber boundaries in form of an evanescent wave. The latter can be used for light-matter-interactions in the vicinity of the surface of the fiber and therefore allows to perform quantum optic experiments.
Nanofiber-based optical trapping of cold neutral atoms
We present experimental techniques and results related to the optimization and characterization of our nanofiber-based atom trap [Vetsch et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 203603 (2010)]. The atoms are confined in an optical lattice which is created using a two-color evanescent field surrounding the optical nanofiber. For this purpose, the polarization state of the trapping light fields has to be properly adjusted. We demonstrate that this can be accomplished by analyzing the light scattered by the nanofiber. Furthermore, we show that loading the nanofiber trap from a magneto-optical trap leads to sub-Doppler temperatures of the trapped atomic ensemble and yields a sub-Poissonian distribution of…