Optical interface created by laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding an optical nanofiber

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates trapping and interfacing laser-cooled cesium atoms using a nanofiber's evanescent field, enabling integration of atomic ensembles into fiber networks for quantum technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a method to trap and interrogate laser-cooled atoms directly via a nanofiber, advancing quantum communication and hybrid quantum systems.

Findings

Atoms localized 200 nm above nanofiber surface

Efficient interrogation with nanofiber-guided light

Potential for integration into fiber-based quantum networks

Abstract

Trapping and optically interfacing laser-cooled neutral atoms is an essential requirement for their use in advanced quantum technologies. Here we simultaneously realize both of these tasks with cesium atoms interacting with a multi-color 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.