Force of light on a two-level atom near an ultrathin optical fiber

TL;DR

This paper investigates the various optical forces acting on a two-level atom near an ultrathin fiber, revealing direction-dependent effects and state-dependent van der Waals potentials using advanced theoretical methods.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of light-induced forces near nanofibers, including the influence of guided mode asymmetries and atomic state on the forces and potentials.

Findings

The total force includes driving, recoil, and van der Waals components.

The guided mode's axial component causes direction-dependent Rabi frequency.

The van der Waals potential varies with atomic state and distance from the fiber surface.

Abstract

We study the force of light on a two-level atom near an ultrathin optical fiber using the mode function method and the Green tensor technique. We show that the total force consists of the driving-field force, the spontaneous-emission recoil force, and the fiber-induced van der Waals potential force. Due to the existence of a nonzero axial component of the field in a guided mode, the Rabi frequency and, hence, the magnitude of the force of the guided driving field may depend on the propagation direction. When the atomic dipole rotates in the meridional plane, the spontaneous-emission recoil force may arise as a result of the asymmetric spontaneous emission with respect to opposite propagation directions. The van der Waals potential for the atom in the ground state is off-resonant and opposite to the off-resonant part of the van der Waals potential for the atom in the excited state. Unlike the potential for the ground state, the potential for the excited state may oscillate depending on the distance from the atom to the fiber surface.