Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Nanostructured alkali-metal vapor cells

Cutler, T.F.; Hamlyn, W.J.; Renger, J.; Whittaker, K.A.; Pizzey, D.; Hughes, I.G.; Sandoghdar, V.; Adams, C.S.

Nanostructured alkali-metal vapor cells Thumbnail


Authors

Thomas Cutler thomas.cutler@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy

W.J. Hamlyn

J. Renger

K.A. Whittaker

V. Sandoghdar



Abstract

Atom-light interactions in micro- and nanoscale systems hold great promise for alternative technologies based on integrated emitters and optical modes. We present the design architecture, construction method, and characterization of an all-glass alkali-metal vapor cell with nanometer-scale internal structure. Our cell has a glue-free design that allows versatile optical access, in particular with high numerical aperture optics, and incorporates a compact integrated heating system in the form of an external deposited indium tin oxide layer. By performing spectroscopy in different illumination and detection schemes, we investigate atomic densities and velocity distributions in various nanoscopic landscapes. We apply a two-photon excitation scheme to atoms confined in one dimension within our cells, achieving resonance line widths more than an order of magnitude smaller than the Doppler width. We also demonstrate sub-Doppler line widths for atoms confined in two dimensions to micron-sized channels. Furthermore, we illustrate control over vapor density within our cells through nanoscale confinement alone, which could offer a scalable route towards room-temperature devices with single atoms within an interaction volume. Our design offers a robust platform for miniaturized devices that could easily be combined with integrated photonic circuits.

Citation

Cutler, T., Hamlyn, W., Renger, J., Whittaker, K., Pizzey, D., Hughes, I., …Adams, C. (2020). Nanostructured alkali-metal vapor cells. Physical Review Applied, 14(3), Article 034054. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.14.034054

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 19, 2020
Online Publication Date Sep 21, 2020
Publication Date 2020-09
Deposit Date Apr 20, 2020
Publicly Available Date Oct 27, 2020
Journal Physical Review Applied
Publisher American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 14
Issue 3
Article Number 034054
DOI https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevapplied.14.034054

Files

Published Journal Article (2.9 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.





You might also like



Downloadable Citations