Evanescent atom guiding in metal-coated hollow-core optical fibers

An atom guiding apparatus which comprises:

• a first vacuum chamber;
• a second vacuum chamber;
• a metal-coated hollow-core optical fiber extending between the first and second vacuum chambers, having a first open end extending into the first vacuum chamber and having a second opposite open end extending into the second vacuum chamber whereby the first chamber is in communication with the second chamber through the hollow-core portion of the optical fiber, the optical fiber having an annular dielectric portion with concentric inner and outer surfaces, the dielectric inner surface extending about and defining the hollow core of the optical fiber, and the dielectric outer surface being metal-coated;
• atom supply means for supplying identical atoms into the first chamber;
• atom directing means for directing at least some of the identical atoms toward and into the first open end of the optical fiber;
• a tunable monochromatic light source, which is tuned slightly above the resonance of said atoms in the first vacuum chamber, and
• light directing means for directing the monchromatic light into one end of the annular dielectric portion of the fiber,the monochromatic light traversing the length of the optical fiber and producing a maximum evanescent field in the hollow portion of the optical fiber.