Open AccessOptical nanofiber as an efficient tool for manipulating and probing atomic Fluorescence
Author(s) -
K. P. Nayak,
Pavel N. Melentiev,
Makoto Morinaga,
Fam Le Kien,
V. I. Balykin,
K. Hakuta
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.15.005431
Subject(s) - nanofiber , materials science , fluorescence , van der waals force , optics , optical fiber , multi mode optical fiber , fiber , excitation , coupling (piping) , optoelectronics , molecular physics , nanotechnology , physics , molecule , quantum mechanics , composite material , metallurgy
We experimentally demonstrate efficient coupling of atomic fluorescence to the guided mode of a subwavelength-diameter silica fiber, an optical nanofiber. We show that fluorescence of a very small number of atoms, around the nanofiber can be readily observed through a single-mode optical fiber. We also show that such a technique enables us to probe the van der Waals interaction between atoms and surface with high precision by observing the fluorescence excitation spectrum through the nanofiber.