Abstract
The atom-surface interaction is one of the simplest prototype of the universal dipole-dipole interaction between neutral bodies and a key phenomenon in the ultimate cohesion of the matter. It scales in C3 z−3 (z: the atom-surface distance) in the electrostatic van der Waals (vW) regime, valid typically for a distance range spanning from ~1nm (to smooth down the structural details of the surface) up to ~1000 nm (i.e. when retardation effects can no longer be neglected). Although this attraction law should cover about 10 orders of magnitude in energy, little has been done to test the predicted dependence; for which various subtle corrections are now currently predicted. Following the blossom of Casimir interaction measurements with study on the distance dependence, a very recent investigation has appeared based upon the reflection coefficients of slow atoms on a magnetic mirror; its spatial resolution is related with the size of the magnetic domain, and allows to explore a 20-100 nm distance to a wall for cold atoms [1]. Here, we report on a spectroscopic investigation of the vW interaction exerted onto the excited atoms of a vapour nanocell, whose nanometric thickness varies locally.
© 2007 IEEE
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