Measurement of Casimir-Polder interaction for slow atoms through a material grating

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method using atomic diffraction and statistical analysis to measure the Casimir-Polder interaction between slow Argon atoms and a nanograting, enabling precise potential determination.

Contribution

The study develops a sensitive approach combining diffraction patterns and modeling to accurately measure atom-surface interactions at the nanoscale.

Findings

Measured C3 potential parameter as 6.87 ± 1.18 meV·nm³

Demonstrated high sensitivity of the method for short-distance force detection

Analyzed effects of nanograting geometry and finite size on measurements

Abstract

We present a method utilizing atomic diffraction patterns and statistical analysis tools to infer the Casimir-Polder interaction between Argon atoms and a silicon nitride nanograting. The quantum model that supports the data is investigated in detail, as are the roles of nanograting geometry, finite size effects, slit width opening angles, and Lennard-Jones potentials. Our findings indicate that the atom-surface potential strength parameter is C3 = 6.87 $\pm$ 1.18 meV.nm3. This value is primarily constrained by the knowledge of the nanograting geometry. The high sensitivity of our method paves the way for precise determination of the Casimir-Polder potential and exploration of new short-distance forces.