Laser-induced quantum adsorption of neutral atoms in dielectric surfaces

Abstract

We propose an optical technique to load neutral atoms in quantum adsorption states of a dielectric surface. Considering a realistic atom–surface potential well, we show that free cold lithium atoms approaching a LiF surface may be transferred to a surface bound state of the first excited atomic state. We also discuss schemes to populate adsorption energy levels of the atomic electronic ground state, and we find that spontaneous mechanisms transfer more than 90% of the excited adsorbed atoms into vibrational levels of the fundamental adsorption potential. The lifetime of the resulting two-dimensional waveguide is calculated, considering the adatoms’ interaction with the crystal phonons.