Ultracold Atoms as a Probe of Novel Atom-Surface Interactions

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该研究项目旨在更好地理解Casimir-Polder势——电中性原子和表面之间的力，仅仅是由于量子力学真空的波动——在新几何形状和材料特性的制度下。用激光冷却的锶原子限制在激光晶格中进行精确测量。该装置的设计目的是将原子加载到远离表面的单个晶格位置，然后将它们移动到距离该晶格一定距离的范围内。这项研究计划的一个重要组成部分是利用利用锶原子开发的下一代超高精度光学原子钟的广泛技术。项目期间的主要目标是：构建一个新的激光冷却装置来演示这些新技术；然后探索与原子相对于表面的取向有关的原子表面力的新影响；探测由于偏离已充分研究的平面几何形状而产生的影响；并探讨原子或材料分散特性的变化对原子表面力的影响。这项研究将对原子物理、材料科学和量子电动力学的基础知识作出重大贡献。对原子表面相互作用的理解将有助于小型化、实用量子技术的发展，如原子芯片干涉仪、传感器和量子信息处理器。这一点尤其重要，因为通过改变材料或表面的几何性质来理解原子表面相互作用的改变，可以实现原子表面电位的工程设计。教育也是这个项目的一个组成部分。这项研究将为至少两名研究生提供论文主题，并将涉及本科生在一个令人兴奋的跨学科研究领域。这项研究也将直接影响俄勒冈大学的课程。在所有级别的讲座课程中，卡西米尔-波德效应及其测量所涉及的原子光学技术提供了课程主题的相关性并激发了学生的兴趣。UO光学教学实验室也将从实验的“技术转移”中受益，因为教学实验室的学生将构建用于仪器的模块化、易于复制的设备，以建立新的、先进的实验室模块。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This research project aims to achieve a better understanding of the Casimir-Polder potential--the force between an electrically neutral atom and a surface due solely to fluctuations of the quantum- mechanical vacuum--in regimes of novel geometries and material properties. Precision measurements will be carried out with laser- cooled strontium atoms confined in lattices of laser light. The apparatus is designed to load atoms into a single lattice site, far away from the surface, and then move them to within a controlled distance of it. An important component of this research plan is to leverage the extensive technology developed for next-generation, ultrahigh precision, optical atomic clocks using strontium atoms. The main goals during the project period are: to construct a new laser-cooling apparatus to demonstrate these new techniques; to then explore novel effects on the atom-surface force related to the orientation of the atom with respect to the surface; to probe effects due to departures from the well-studied planar surface geometry; and to explore modifications to the atom-surface force due to changes in the atomic or material dispersion properties.This research will contribute significantly to fundamental knowledge in atomic physics, material science, and quantum electrodynamics. The understanding of atom-surface interactions will assist the development of miniaturized, practical quantum technologies, such as atom-chip interferometers, sensors, and quantum-information processors. This is particularly the case inasmuch as understanding modifications to atom-surface interactions by changing material or geometric properties of surfaces enables the engineering of atom-surface potentials. Education is also an integral component of this project. This research will provide dissertation topics for at least two graduate students, and will also involve undergraduates in an exciting and interdisciplinary research area. This research will also directly impact coursework at the University of Oregon. In lecture courses at all levels, the Casimir-Polder effect and the atom- optical techniques involved in its measurement provide relevance for the course subject matter and stimulate student interest. The UO optics teaching laboratory will also benefit from "technology transfer" from the experiment, in that modular, easily reproduced equipment designed for use in the apparatus will be constructed by teaching-laboratory students to build up new, advanced laboratory modules.