Guiding Laser-Cooled Atoms in Hollow-Core Fibers

Published

March 1, 2000

Author(s)

D Mueller, Eric A. Cornell, D Z. Anderson, E. Abraham

Abstract

Laser-cooled atoms from a low-velocity atomic source are guided in a hollow-core optical fiber using the evanescent-wave dipole force from blue-detuned laser light launched into the glass region of the fiber. The transverse velocity of the guided atoms corresponds to a temperature of 50 K. We achieve a maximum fluxthrough a 23.5-cm-long fiber of 590 000 atoms/second with a laser power of 55 mWatts at a detuning of 6 GHz. With larger detunings of 40 GHz, spontaneous emission from the atoms inside the fiber can be suppressed and the atom's internal-state population is preserved. We identify two major loss mechanisms for the guiding process and discuss possible solutions.

Citation

Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics)

Volume

61

Issue

No. 3

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

atom guiding, evanescent field guiding

Citation

Mueller, D. , Cornell, E. , Anderson, D. and Abraham, E. (2000), Guiding Laser-Cooled Atoms in Hollow-Core Fibers, Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics) (Accessed October 12, 2025)