Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction
Metamaterials are fascinating tools that can structure not only surface plasmons and electromagnetic waves but also electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations. The possibility of shaping the quantum vacuum is a powerful concept that ultimately allows engineering the interaction between macroscopic surfaces...
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sg-ntu-dr.10356-855812023-02-28T19:26:16Z Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction Chan, Eng Aik Aljunid, Syed Abdullah Adamo, Giorgio Laliotis, Athanasios Ducloy, Martial Wilkowski, David School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies (CDPT) The Photonics Institute Metamaterials Casimir-Polder Interaction Metamaterials are fascinating tools that can structure not only surface plasmons and electromagnetic waves but also electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations. The possibility of shaping the quantum vacuum is a powerful concept that ultimately allows engineering the interaction between macroscopic surfaces and quantum emitters such as atoms, molecules, or quantum dots. The long-range atom-surface interaction, known as Casimir-Polder interaction, is of fundamental importance in quantum electrodynamics but also attracts a significant interest for platforms that interface atoms with nanophotonic devices. We perform a spectroscopic selective reflection measurement of the Casimir-Polder interaction between a Cs(6P3/2) atom and a nanostructured metallic planar metamaterial. We show that by engineering the near-field plasmonic resonances of the metamaterial, we can successfully tune the Casimir-Polder interaction, demonstrating both a strong enhancement and reduction with respect to its nonresonant value. We also show an enhancement of the atomic spontaneous emission rate due to its coupling with the evanescent modes of the nanostructure. Probing excited-state atoms next to nontrivial tailored surfaces is a rigorous test of quantum electrodynamics. Engineering Casimir-Polder interactions represents a significant step toward atom trapping in the extreme near field, possibly without the use of external fields. MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) Published version 2018-07-23T06:32:15Z 2019-12-06T16:06:31Z 2018-07-23T06:32:15Z 2019-12-06T16:06:31Z 2018 Journal Article Chan, E. A., Aljunid, S. A., Adamo, G., Laliotis, A., Ducloy, M., & Wilkowski, D. (2018). Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction. Science Advances, 4(2), eaao4223-. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/85581 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/45175 10.1126/sciadv.aao4223 en Science Advances © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited. 6 p. application/pdf |
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Metamaterials Casimir-Polder Interaction Chan, Eng Aik Aljunid, Syed Abdullah Adamo, Giorgio Laliotis, Athanasios Ducloy, Martial Wilkowski, David Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction |
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Metamaterials are fascinating tools that can structure not only surface plasmons and electromagnetic waves but also electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations. The possibility of shaping the quantum vacuum is a powerful concept that ultimately allows engineering the interaction between macroscopic surfaces and quantum emitters such as atoms, molecules, or quantum dots. The long-range atom-surface interaction, known as Casimir-Polder interaction, is of fundamental importance in quantum electrodynamics but also attracts a significant interest for platforms that interface atoms with nanophotonic devices. We perform a spectroscopic selective reflection measurement of the Casimir-Polder interaction between a Cs(6P3/2) atom and a nanostructured metallic planar metamaterial. We show that by engineering the near-field plasmonic resonances of the metamaterial, we can successfully tune the Casimir-Polder interaction, demonstrating both a strong enhancement and reduction with respect to its nonresonant value. We also show an enhancement of the atomic spontaneous emission rate due to its coupling with the evanescent modes of the nanostructure. Probing excited-state atoms next to nontrivial tailored surfaces is a rigorous test of quantum electrodynamics. Engineering Casimir-Polder interactions represents a significant step toward atom trapping in the extreme near field, possibly without the use of external fields. |
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School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences |
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School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Chan, Eng Aik Aljunid, Syed Abdullah Adamo, Giorgio Laliotis, Athanasios Ducloy, Martial Wilkowski, David |
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Article |
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Chan, Eng Aik Aljunid, Syed Abdullah Adamo, Giorgio Laliotis, Athanasios Ducloy, Martial Wilkowski, David |
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Chan, Eng Aik |
title |
Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction |
title_short |
Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction |
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Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction |
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Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction |
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Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction |
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tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface casimir-polder interaction |
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2018 |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10356/85581 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/45175 |
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