[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 13, No. 5 (2006) 357-360]
© 2006 The Optical Society of Japan
Deflecting Atoms through a Submicron-Sized Slit with Near-Field Light
Kazuhiro YAMAMOTO*, Kouki TOTSUKA and Haruhiko ITO
Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8502, Japan
(Received March 22, 2006; Accepted July 24, 2006)
We report experiments on deflecting cold 87Rb atoms by repulsive near-field light induced in a 200-nm-wide slit. The spatial profile is measured with a two-step photoionization scan. The number of outputted atoms from the slit increases by the amount of 40± 7.2% at a 5.1± 2.0° angle for the blue detuning of +1 GHz. We discuss the spatial profile involving an image of the atomic cloud by means of the scattering cross section.
Key words: atom deflection, near-field light, dipole force, two-step photoionization, nanofabrication
*E-mail address: k-yama@ae.titech.ac.jp