Casimir-Polder interaction between an atom and a dielectric grating

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.052517· OSTI ID:21528638

Contreras-Reyes, Ana M; Neto, Paulo A. Maia ^[1]; Guerout, Romain; Lambrecht, Astrid; Reynaud, Serge ^[2]; Dalvit, Diego A. R. ^[3]

---

1. Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Caixa Postal 68528, CEP 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)
2. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, case 74, CNRS, ENS, UPMC, Campus Jussieu, F-75252 Paris Cedex 05 (France)
3. Theoretical Division, MS B213, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

We develop the scattering approach to calculate the exact dispersive Casimir-Polder potential between a ground-state atom and a rectangular grating. Our formalism allows, in principle, for arbitrary values of the grating amplitude and period, and of the atom-grating distance. We compute numerically the potential for a Rb atom on top of a Si grating and compare the results with the potential for a flat surface taken at the local atom-surface distance (proximity force approximation). Except for very short separation distances, the potential is nearly sinusoidal along the direction transverse to the grooves.

• OSTI ID: 21528638
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Journal Name: Physical Review. A Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 82; ISSN 1050-2947; ISSN PLRAAN
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ALKALI METALS
AMPLITUDES
APPROXIMATIONS
ATOMS
CALCULATION METHODS
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
DISTANCE
ELEMENTS
GRATINGS
INTERACTIONS
MATERIALS
METALS
POTENTIALS
RUBIDIUM
SCATTERING
SEMIMETALS
SILICON
SURFACES