Trapped Atoms in One-Dimensional Photonic Crystals

TL;DR

This paper introduces one-dimensional photonic crystals capable of trapping atoms within a unit cell and enhancing atom-photon interactions, enabling advanced studies in quantum optics and photon-mediated atomic interactions.

Contribution

It presents a novel hybrid trapping scheme combining optical and Casimir-Polder forces within 1D photonic crystals, with design strategies to maximize atom-photon coupling and reflectivity.

Findings

Achieved atomic spontaneous emission rate into the probe mode exceeding other modes by over ten times.

Demonstrated single-atom reflectivity greater than 0.9 for the guided probe field.

Proposed structures enable exploration of photon-mediated interactions in 1D atomic chains.

Abstract

We describe one-dimensional photonic crystals that support a guided mode suitable for atom trapping within a unit cell, as well as a second probe mode with strong atom-photon interactions. A new hybrid trap is analyzed that combines optical and Casimir-Polder forces to form stable traps for neutral atoms in dielectric nanostructures. By suitable design of the band structure, the atomic spontaneous emission rate into the probe mode can exceed the rate into all other modes by more than tenfold. The unprecedented single-atom reflectivity $r_0 \gtrsim 0.9$ for the guided probe field should enable diverse investigations of photon-mediated interactions for 1D atom chains and cavity QED.