Measurement of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction by transmission spectroscopy in a wedged nanocell

Peyrot, T.; Šibalić, N.; Sortais, Y.R.P.; Browaeys, A.; Sargsyan, A.; Sarkisyan, D.; Hughes, I.G.; Adams, C.S.

doi:10.1103/physreva.100.022503

Measurement of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction by transmission spectroscopy in a wedged nanocell

Peyrot, T.; Šibalić, N.; Sortais, Y.R.P.; Browaeys, A.; Sargsyan, A.; Sarkisyan, D.; Hughes, I.G.; Adams, C.S.

Authors

T. Peyrot

N. Šibalić

Y.R.P. Sortais

A. Browaeys

A. Sargsyan

D. Sarkisyan

Professor Ifan Hughes i.g.hughes@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Professor Stuart Adams c.s.adams@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

We demonstrate a method for measuring atom-surface interactions using transmission spectroscopy of thermal vapors confined in a wedged nanocell. The wedged shape of the cell allows complementary measurements of both the bulk atomic vapor and atoms close to surfaces experiencing strong van der Waals atom-surface interaction. These are used to tightly constrain the dipole-dipole collisional parameters of a theoretical model for transmission spectra that accounts for atom-surface interactions, cavity effects, collisions with the surface of the cell, and atomic motion. We illustrate this method on a cesium vapor in a sapphire cell, demonstrating that even the weakest of the van der Waals atom-surface interaction coefficients—for ground-state alkali atom transitions—can be determined with a very good precision. This result paves the way towards a precise quantitative characterization of atom-surface interactions in a wide range of atom-based nanodevices.

Citation

Peyrot, T., Šibalić, N., Sortais, Y., Browaeys, A., Sargsyan, A., Sarkisyan, D., …Adams, C. (2019). Measurement of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction by transmission spectroscopy in a wedged nanocell. Physical Review A, 100(2), Article 022503. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.100.022503

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Aug 1, 2019
Publication Date	Aug 31, 2019
Deposit Date	Aug 8, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Aug 8, 2019
Journal	Physical Review A
Print ISSN	2469-9926
Electronic ISSN	2469-9934
Publisher	American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	100
Issue	2
Article Number	022503
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.100.022503

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Copyright Statement
Reprinted with permission from the American Physical Society: [Peyrot, T., Šibalić, N., Sortais, Y. R. P., Browaeys, A., Sargsyan, A., Sarkisyan, D., Hughes, I. G. & Adams, C. S. (2019). Measurement of the atom-surface van der Waals interaction by transmission spectroscopy in a wedged nanocell. Physical Review A 100(2): 022503 © 2019 by the American Physical Society. Readers may view, browse, and/or download material for temporary copying purposes only, provided these uses are for noncommercial personal purposes. Except as provided by law, this material may not be further reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, adapted, performed, displayed, published, or sold in whole or part, without prior written permission from the American Physical Society.