Single atom in a superoscillatory optical trap
Single atom in a superoscillatory optical trap
Optical tweezers have become essential tools to manipulate atoms or molecules at a single particle level. However, using standard diffracted-limited optical systems, the transverse size of the trap is lower bounded by the optical wavelength, limiting the application range of optical tweezers. Here we report trapping of single ultracold atom in an optical trap that can be continuously tuned from a standard Airy focus to a subwavelength hotspot smaller than the usual Abbe’s diffraction limit. The hotspot was generated using the effect of superoscillations, by the precise interference of multiple free-space coherent waves. We argue that superoscillatory trapping and continuous potential tuning offer not only a way to generate compact and tenable ensembles of trapped atoms for quantum simulators but will also be useful in single molecule quantum chemistry and the study of cooperative atom-photon interaction within subwavelength arrays of quantum emitters.
Rivy, Hamim Mamud
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Aljunid, Syed A.
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Lassalle, Emmanuel
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Zheludev, Nikolay I.
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Wilkowski, David
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29 June 2023
Rivy, Hamim Mamud
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Aljunid, Syed A.
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Lassalle, Emmanuel
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Zheludev, Nikolay I.
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Wilkowski, David
cc5763bc-d195-4d5a-8e3d-4657c3fd090a
Rivy, Hamim Mamud, Aljunid, Syed A., Lassalle, Emmanuel, Zheludev, Nikolay I. and Wilkowski, David
(2023)
Single atom in a superoscillatory optical trap.
Communications Physics, 6, [155].
(doi:10.1038/s42005-023-01271-4).
Abstract
Optical tweezers have become essential tools to manipulate atoms or molecules at a single particle level. However, using standard diffracted-limited optical systems, the transverse size of the trap is lower bounded by the optical wavelength, limiting the application range of optical tweezers. Here we report trapping of single ultracold atom in an optical trap that can be continuously tuned from a standard Airy focus to a subwavelength hotspot smaller than the usual Abbe’s diffraction limit. The hotspot was generated using the effect of superoscillations, by the precise interference of multiple free-space coherent waves. We argue that superoscillatory trapping and continuous potential tuning offer not only a way to generate compact and tenable ensembles of trapped atoms for quantum simulators but will also be useful in single molecule quantum chemistry and the study of cooperative atom-photon interaction within subwavelength arrays of quantum emitters.
Text
s42005-023-01271-4
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Accepted/In Press date: 17 June 2023
Published date: 29 June 2023
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 500452
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/500452
ISSN: 2399-3650
PURE UUID: 66a02461-54fe-4c56-b3b7-056af76d31f0
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Date deposited: 30 Apr 2025 16:39
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 01:37
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Contributors
Author:
Hamim Mamud Rivy
Author:
Syed A. Aljunid
Author:
Emmanuel Lassalle
Author:
Nikolay I. Zheludev
Author:
David Wilkowski
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