State‐selective optical near‐field resonant ionization spectroscopy of atoms near a dielectric surface

Abstract

SummarySpin-sensitive optical near-field microscopy and spectroscopy are proposed based on the study on the conserved quantities in optical near-field interactions of atoms with dielectric surfaces. A two-step photoionization spectra of Cs atoms resolving hyperfine structures are demonstrated near a planar dielectric surface by using evanescent waves. These techniques of state/spin-selective excitation and highly sensitive detection, combined with the techniques of optical pumping, will open up possibilities of space-and polarization-sensitive detection of optical near-fields using atomic probes. This novel method provides us with a useful technique for the observation of polarization nature of the optical near-field and controlling the spin states of mesoscopic electronic systems.

Development of the spin‐polarized atom‐surface scattering method for characterizing surface magnetism: detection efficiency of the microchannel plate

“…Details of the detection system developed for this purpose are reported elsewhere. 17 In the following section we will describe the spinpolarized Cs atom-surface scattering set-up and then focus on the detection efficiency of an MCP for Cs atoms and ions as a function of impact energy in the range 0.1-3.5 keV. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the set-up for the spinpolarized atom-surface scattering experiment.…”

A method for controlling the spins of atoms using optical near‐fields

“…Spin control of atoms, molecules, or quantum dots is another example that has attracted considerable attention in the scientific community. In this context, a method for controlling the spin of an atomic beam by using circularly polarized evanescent light whose angular momentum is perpendicular to the propagation direction has been proposed (Hori et al , 1996;Ohdaira et al , 2001). The authors neglected the dielectric surface effect, although it is well known that the spontaneous emission rate of atoms near a surface is modified.…”