Laser-induced quantum adsorption of atoms on a surface

A method of the quantum adsorption of atoms on a surface is proposed and experimentally implemented. The loading of atoms into a surface potential well (adsorption) occurs due to the loss of kinetic energy in the process of the inelastic collision of two laser-excited atoms. This scheme is implemented for Rb atoms adsorbed on the surface of a YAG crystal. The possibility of producing microstructures of arbitrary shape that consist of atoms localized on the dielectric surface is also demonstrated.     

Collimation and decollimation of atomic beams by laser radiation

Efficient collimation and decollimation of an atomic beam by spontaneous radiation pressure acting on the atoms in axially symmtric light fields has been accomplished. The on-axic atomic-beam intensity was changed by 800 times. The entire effect of collimation and decollimation takes place in a laser-frequency variation about the natural line width.     

On the possibility of velocity monochromatization of atomic beams below recoil velocity

The paper is concerned with a new method of atomic beam monochromatization based on the tunnelling of atoms through a potential barrier formed by laser radiation.     

A nanohole in a thin metal film as an efficient nonlinear optical element

The nonlinear optical properties of single nanoholes and nanoslits fabricated in gold and aluminum nanofilms are studied by third harmonic generation (THG). It is shown that the extremely high third-order optical susceptibility of aluminum and the presence of strong plasmon resonance of a single nanohole in an aluminum film make possible an efficient nanolocalized radiation source at the third harmonic frequency. The THG efficiency for a single nanohole in a thin metal film can be close to unity for an exciting laser radiation intensity on the order of 10¹³ W/cm².     

Focusing of an Atomic Beam for the Efficient Loading of an Atom Chip

JETP Letters - A method has been proposed to increase the rate of loading of atoms in a U-magneto-optical trap near an atom chip. The method is based on the focusing of a slow atomic beam into the...     

Extremely high transmission of light through a nanohole inside a photonic crystal

The transmission of light through single nanoholes with diameters considerably smaller than the wavelength of light (smaller than ??/10) is experimentally studied. The nanoholes were made in a gold film, which is a part of a photonic crystal forming a microcavity with the quality factor Q ?? 100. A 28-fold increase in the transmission of light through a nanohole inside the microcavity compared to transmission through a nanohole in a gold film is demonstrated. The high spectral selectivity of light transmission through a nanohole is discovered, which is characterized by two features: (i) the transmission maximum is located at the resonance wavelength of the microcavity and (ii) the peak full width at half-maximum is about ??/90.     

Pulsed magnetooptic compression of cold atoms

A method is proposed for increasing the density of cold atoms. The method is based on pulsed laser irradiation of the atoms in a nonuniform magnetic field. The interaction conditions under which the velocity of an atom is damped to a value that depends only on the magnitude of the magnetic field and the position of the atom at the moment it is irradiated by the laser field are found. The atom completely loses all memory of its initial coordinates and velocity. In a three-dimensional interaction geometry an irradiated atomic ensemble transforms into an ensemble contracting toward the origin. The basic physical processes accompanying the compression of atoms are studied. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 5, 327–331 (10 September 1997)     

Atom “pinhole camera” with nanometer resolution

An atom “pinhole camera” with nanometer resolution has been experimentally implemented for the first time. Owing to the use of this camera, an array of ～10⁶ identical nanostructures of Cr atoms with a characteristic size of the nanostructure of less than 50 nm has been created on a glass surface. Nanostructures of arbitrary shapes have been created.