Probing atom-surface interactions from tunneling-time measurements via rotation-transport on an atom chip

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Gerent, J-B., Veyron, R., Mancois, V., Huang, R., Beraud, E., Bernon, S.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Gerent, J-B.
Veyron, R.
Mancois, V.
Huang, R.
Beraud, E.
Bernon, S.
author_facet Gerent, J-B.
Veyron, R.
Mancois, V.
Huang, R.
Beraud, E.
Bernon, S.
contents We propose a novel method to measure the interaction between an ultracold gas of neutral atoms and a surface. This solution combines an optical dipole trap reflected by the surface, a magnetic trap formed by current carrying wires embedded below the surface, and a rotation of the surface itself. It allows to adiabatically transport a $^{87}$Rb BEC from few $μ$m to few hundred nm of the surface. At such distances, atom-surface interaction strongly affects the trapping potential, causing an increase of the tunneling rate towards the surface. In this paper, we show that the measurement of the lifetime of the cloud and its comparison to a tunneling model will allow to extract the Casimir-Polder (CP) force coefficient in the retarded regime ($c_4$). Our model includes noise-induced heating, calibration biases of experimentally controlled parameters and accuracy of the atom lifetime measurement. Using typical trapping parameters and experimental uncertainties, we numerically estimate the relative uncertainty of $c_4$ to be 10%. This method can be implemented with any atomic species that can be magnetically and optically trapped.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_14347
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing atom-surface interactions from tunneling-time measurements via rotation-transport on an atom chip
Gerent, J-B.
Veyron, R.
Mancois, V.
Huang, R.
Beraud, E.
Bernon, S.
Quantum Gases
Quantum Physics
We propose a novel method to measure the interaction between an ultracold gas of neutral atoms and a surface. This solution combines an optical dipole trap reflected by the surface, a magnetic trap formed by current carrying wires embedded below the surface, and a rotation of the surface itself. It allows to adiabatically transport a $^{87}$Rb BEC from few $μ$m to few hundred nm of the surface. At such distances, atom-surface interaction strongly affects the trapping potential, causing an increase of the tunneling rate towards the surface. In this paper, we show that the measurement of the lifetime of the cloud and its comparison to a tunneling model will allow to extract the Casimir-Polder (CP) force coefficient in the retarded regime ($c_4$). Our model includes noise-induced heating, calibration biases of experimentally controlled parameters and accuracy of the atom lifetime measurement. Using typical trapping parameters and experimental uncertainties, we numerically estimate the relative uncertainty of $c_4$ to be 10%. This method can be implemented with any atomic species that can be magnetically and optically trapped.
title Probing atom-surface interactions from tunneling-time measurements via rotation-transport on an atom chip
topic Quantum Gases
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.14347