Optical wire trap for cold neutral atoms (1308.4602v1)

Abstract: We propose a trap for cold neutral atoms using a fictitious magnetic field induced by a nanofiber-guided light field. In close analogy to magnetic side-guide wire traps realized with current-carrying wires, a trapping potential can be formed when applying a homogeneous magnetic bias field perpendicular to the fiber axis. We discuss this scheme in detail for laser-cooled cesium atoms and find trap depths and trap frequencies comparable to the two-color nanofiber-based trapping scheme but with one order of magnitude lower powers of the trapping laser field. Moreover, the proposed scheme allows one to bring the atoms closer to the nanofiber surface, thereby enabling efficient optical interfacing of the atoms with additional light fields. Specifically, optical depths per atom, $\sigma_0/A_{\rm eff}$, of more than 0.4 are predicted, making this system eligible for nanofiber-based nonlinear and quantum optics experiments.